Trump Picked the Worst Possible Time to Hold a Military Parade
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It's sometimes easy to go numb living here in Washington. On most days, the Vice President's motorcade rumbles under many of our office windows, traveling from the Naval Observatory to the White House in the morning and back shortly after his workday ends. It's not uncommon to spot a trio of white-topped helicopters zipping over the Potomac while crowds are having dinner down at The Wharf; one is transporting a head of state while the other two are decoys. And was that the Irish Taoiseach hanging out at Little Gay Pub and Kiki on St. Patrick's Day weekend? Yes, that nation's then-leader was visiting from Dublin and making the rounds on the LGBTQ circuit after his official day ended.
But the scene in my neighborhood the last two nights stood as a stark reminder that this weekend is shaping up to be surreal, even by D.C. standards. It's been hard to miss the military tanks rolling by on flatbed trucks around Eckington, Bloomingdale, and Shaw, heading past the city's convention center to get in position for a pricey parade on Saturday ordered by President Donald Trump. And if that spectacle were not shocking enough on its own, these giant weapons of war have been rumbling through residential streets in the U.S. capital at the same time as U.S. troops are deployed in the nation's second-largest city to help advance deeply unpopular immigration raids that have sparked protests across the nation.
The jarring splitscreen reality is one that is arriving at perhaps the most tone-deaf moment so far of Trump's second term. Ostensibly, the parade is marking the quarter-century birthday for the U.S. Army. (It also just happens to be Trump's 79th birthday, which is a very convenient coincidence that has even some of the President's apologists rolling their eyes at the cover story.)
On the West Coast, as many as 2,000 National Guardsmen have been ordered up for active duty in Los Angeles, in direct violation of protocols that defer to each state's Governor, who is nominally the commander in chief of their reserve military. Trump also sent 700 Marines to Los Angeles to add to the uniformed legions that, to this point, have inflamed tensions, not quelled them. And there are whiffs that Los Angeles is merely a test case to see just how compliant Americans will be to see the world's greatest fighting force turn against the very people who pick up its tab. As Trump told reporters on Tuesday, those choosing to object publicly may come to regret it: 'For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force.'
So as Trump stands in Washington this Saturday as M1A2 tanks, Stryker armored vehicles, and M109s tear up some of D.C. iconic boulevards, an actual live military operation stands to be unfolding on the streets of Los Angeles—and maybe other cities as well, given Trump's orders are not limited to that one locality. D.C.'s airspace will be shut down for hours to make way for flying fortresses to buzz overhead. And a trick parachute troop plans to airdrop to the viewing platform to deliver Trump an American flag that is destined to land in his future presidential library.
It's one thing to watch a military display for show; it's another to watch live ammo be fired into the air to put down domestic demonstrations. The disconnect between Trump's stagings of brute force is striking and more than a little worrisome for those who have long thought civilian control of the military would have stopped such a craven choice.
Trump has long fetishized the military hardware he controls. During his first term, he sought to flash this power after seeing a similar demonstration on a visit to France for Bastile Day; his military brass convinced him it was a bad idea and not worth the price. Given his long-standing obsession with autocratic regimes, it's little surprise that he is plunging ahead with a flex that feels more like something we'd see in Moscow or Pyongyang.
The public is far from covering Trump's flank here. Trump's standing in polls sank underwater in March and hasn't recovered since, according to Nate Silver's modeling. A Quinnipiac poll out Wednesday puts Trump's approval rating at a measly 38%. He's even drawing a decided deficit on immigration and deportations—previously thought to be his best issues. Going back through post-World War II polling indices, Trump is faring worse than any President since 1953, save for how he was doing during his first term, according to analyst G. Elliott Morris.
So as D.C. streets are clogged with war tools staging for Saturday's pricey pageant—6,600 soldiers, 50 aircraft, and 150 military vehicles at a price of $45 million—it's worth reminding ourselves that this is a show that seems to have little purpose beyond boosting Trump's ego. But as his legions of supporters like to say, forget your feelings. The American public is not behind this show, let alone the policies that the White House is hoping it distracts from.
The splitscreen between Washington and L.A. is disturbing, the implications dire. It's easy to forget that the nation and the world watch what happens in Washington far closer than the folks who live it day to day, and the war footing being adopted in a city fast approaching warzone timbre is not one that inspires confidence in America as the world's peacemakers. In fact, Trump's birthday blowout could be seen as a reboot of the entire post-Cold War ethos America has strived to convey for the last three decades—all over a parade coinciding with a domestic military crackdown.
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Los Angeles Times
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The gift Trump never meant to give: the spotlight to Democratic adversary Gavin Newsom
SACRAMENTO — President Trump craves attention and will stoop to any depth to grab it — even pour gasoline on a kindling fire in Los Angeles. But this time he unwittingly provided priceless attention for an adversary. Because Trump needlessly deployed National Guard troops and — more ridiculous, a Marine battalion to L.A. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom was granted a prime-time speaking slot on national cable television to respond. 'We honor their service. We honor their bravery,' Newsom said of the troops. 'But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. Not in L.A. Not in California. Not anywhere … . 'California may be first — but it clearly won't end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. The moment we've feared has arrived.' I'm not sure the 'democracy is under assault' message has much traction, but keeping armed combat forces off our streets must be a salable pitch. Regardless, governors almost never get national TV time to deliver entire speeches, even as brief as Newsom's. You've practically got to be nominated for president. But the publicity-thirsty sitting president provided the cameras for California's governor. Newsom's strong address probably boosted his stock within the Democrat Party and revived dormant speculation about a 2028 presidential bid. No longer was the Democratic governor playing respectful nice guy and tempering criticism of the Republican president. Now he was standing up to the bully who loves to use California, Newsom and our progressive politics as a punching bag. Trump's red-state supporters love every swipe at this 'left coast' state. Newsom rose to the occasion, using his greatest asset: invaluable communication skills coupled with telegenic looks. He laid out his version of what happened to turn relatively peaceful protests against federal immigration raids into destructive street violence. And it's the correct version by objective accounts. On Saturday, Newsom said, federal immigration agents 'jumped out of an unmarked van' near a Home Depot parking lot and 'began grabbing people. A deliberate targeting of a heavily Latino suburb … . In response, everyday Angelenos' exercised their constitutional right to protest. Police were dispatched to keep the peace and mostly were successful, the governor continued. But then tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades were used — by federal agents, Newsom implied. Then Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops 'illegally and for no reason,' the governor asserted. 'This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation … . Anxiety for families and friends ramped up. Protests started again … . Several dozen lawbreakers became violent and destructive.' Newsom warned: 'That kind of criminal behavior will not be tolerated. Full stop.' And hundreds have been arrested. But he emphasized: 'This situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown. But that's not what Donald Trump wanted … . He chose theatrics over public safety.' In Trump's twisted view, if he hadn't sent in the National Guard, 'Los Angeles would be completely obliterated.' Never mind that the violence was confined to a few downtown blocks, a fraction of a city that spreads over 500 square miles. 'We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free and clean again,' the president promised. Veteran Republican strategist Mike Murphy had it right, telling CNN: 'He's lighting the fire as an arsonist, then claiming to be the fireman.' It reminded me of President Lyndon B. Johnson's manufactured Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964 that Congress passed, enabling him to vastly escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Johnson reported a North Vietnamese attack on U.S. destroyers that many experts later concluded never happened. But I think Trump mainly is obsessed with attracting attention. He knows he'll get it by being provocative. Never mind the accuracy of his words or the wisdom of his actions. Sending in the Marines certainly was an eye-opener. So is staging a military parade on his birthday — an abuse of troops for attention, personal glorification and exercise of his own power. He'll say anything provocative without thinking it through: Tariffs one day, suspended the next. He'll boast of sending San Joaquin Valley water to L.A. for fighting fires when it's physically impossible to deliver it. While Trump was playing politics with immigrants and L.A. turmoil, a poll finding was released that should have pleased him. Californians no longer support providing public healthcare for immigrants living here illegally, the independent Public Policy Institute of California reported. Adult state residents were opposed by 58% to 41% in a survey taken before the L.A. trouble erupted. By contrast, a PPIC poll in 2021 found that Californians favored providing state healthcare for undocumented immigrants by 66% to 31%. Polling director Mark Baldassare concluded the public opposition stems mostly from the view that California taxpayers can't afford the costly program — not that they agree with Trump's anti-immigrant demagoguery. In fact, Newson has proposed paring back the state's multibillion-dollar program of providing Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants because the state budget has been spewing red ink. Given all the rhetoric about the L.A. protests, the statement that particularly impressed me came from freshman Assemblyman Mark Gonzalez (D-Los Angeles), whose downtown district stretches from Koreatown to Chinatown. 'Rocks thrown at officers, CHP cars and Waymo vehicles set on fire, arson on the 101 freeway — have nothing to do with immigration, justice or the values of our communities,' he said in a statement Sunday. 'These are not protesters — they were agitators. Their actions are reckless, dangerous and playing into exactly what Trump wants.' Gonzalez is a liberal former chairman of the L.A. County Democratic Party who stuck to his point: Hoodlums can't be tolerated. And, thanks to Trump, Newsom was able to make a similar point about the president on national TV: His dangerous, self-serving actions can't be tolerated either.
