Latest news with #militaryparade
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump's military parade will displace annual Vietnam veterans event
Donald Trump's upcoming military parade in Washington, D.C. will displace an annual event for Vietnam veterans, Jen Psaki reports.
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
We're minimizing the horror of Trump's military birthday parade
In 2017, watching a two-hour Bastille Day procession, Donald Trump told the French president that we'd have one too, only better. That time, the grown-ups said no. The reasons given were costs – estimates ran to $92m – hellish logistics, and the Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser's worried that tanks and other armored vehicles would tear up Washington's streets. Some retired generals objected publicly to the totalitarian-adjacent optics, especially given the US president's praise for such bad actors as Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin. Several Republican lawmakers also expressed their distaste. 'Confidence is silent, and insecurity is loud,' the Louisiana senator John Kennedy told MSNBC. 'America is the most powerful country in all of human history ... and we don't need to show it off. We're not North Korea. We're not Russia, we're not China,' he continued, 'and I don't wanna be.' This time, as Washington prepares for a huge military shindig on 14 June, Trump's 79th – and, oh yes, the US army's 250th – birthday, the generals are silent. The Republicans have sworn allegiance to the king. And the media are focused on the price tag, the potholes and the impending pomp; on tensions between the blue city of Washington and the red capital; and on the decimation of veterans' healthcare, housing, and pensions while the administration throws $25m to $45m at a circus of war. All are important parts of the story. Yet commentary is muted and the debate mischaracterized as normal political discourse. The horrific point is missed: the spectacle of a massive show of military might, before a president who behaves like a dictator and views the armed forces as his personal foot soldiers, evinces memories of the worst totalitarian regimes. History may mark 14 June 2025 as the ceremonial birth of a new American fascism. Military Parade in Capital on Trump's Birthday Could Cost $45 Million, Officials Say, reported the New York Times in mid-May. CBS also led with the cost. The Washingtonian described in detail the street-damage-preventive measures the army is installing: metal plates under the parade route, rubber padding on the tank treads – though transportation experts warn that running, at last count, 28 Abrams tanks, 28 Bradley fighting vehicles, 28 Strykers, and four Paladins, each behemoth weighing as much as 70 tonnes, could buckle the asphalt and smash power, water and telecom lines underneath. Even the New Republic, the president's daily disparager, put the cost up top, tallied the ordinance, and noted that the man who 'signed an executive order creating a program to 'beautify Washington DC'' was now 'plotting to transform his expensive birthday party into a demolition derby that will cause serious damage to the roads that line the nation's capital'. In late May, three weeks after the Associated Press first revealed the parade plan, the army promised it would pay to fix the streets. It did not commit to picking up the multimillion-dollar tab for policing and cleanup, however, which will come out of a city budget from which the House cut $1.1bn in March and didn't get around to restoring. Still, the partial resolution of the infrastructure problems liberated the press to get on with the fun stuff: 'what to expect' on the festive day: not just planes, tanks and 6,700 soldiers, but also fireworks, football players and fitness competitions. USA Today linked to the free tickets page and published the parade route, plus a map of the military goodies on display, including robots and night-vision goggles. It called the event an 'unofficial birthday party'. ABC News ran a feature on Doc Holliday, the dog who will join the parade in a mule-drawn cart. Tucked into some stories was a sentence or two indicating controversy, such as this from Reuters: 'Critics have called a parade an authoritarian display of power that is wasteful, especially as Trump slashes costs throughout the federal government.' 'The plans have drawn some criticism from Democrats,' said CBS. The Hill wrote: 'Democrats and critics have questioned both the cost of the parade and whether it politicizes the military, which has traditionally been nonpartisan. The fact that the parade falls on Trump's birthday has only fueled criticism from Democrats who view it as a way for the president to celebrate himself.' Over at Fox, they were telling the critics to get over themselves. 'The Democratic party, they've chosen to be an outrage machine at a time when there is outrage fatigue in this country,' scoffed Kayleigh McEnany, Trump's former press secretary and current Fox News host. 'People are fed up with the 'authoritarianism coup' language.' It's true. Only one party is complaining. But what is striking about their complaints is the relative dearth of authoritarian coup language. 'The egotist-in-chief wants taxpayers to foot the bill for a military parade on his birthday,' said Steve Cohen, a US representative from Tennessee, in a statement. As if the president were moved by mere narcissism. Reported Forbes on 15 May: 'There has been no formal pushback to the proposal.' Trump likes hulking lethal toys, but he hasn't always been partial to the people who run them. There was the fight he picked with a couple of Muslim Gold Star parents during his first campaign; the comments on a 2018 European trip that fallen soldiers are 'losers' and 'suckers'; the undisguised queasiness about seeing or being seen with wounded veterans; the Pentagon session where he called his top officers 'a bunch of dopes and babies'. But he is warming to the role of commander in chief. In his commencement speech at West Point, between bloviations on Nato, drag shows, golf and trophy wives, he boasted about the unprecedented $1.1tn military budget. 'You'll become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known,' he said. 'And I know because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military ... like nobody has ever rebuilt it before.' Also breaking from script on Memorial Day at Arlington Cemetery, he suggested that the parade, on top of nabbing the World Cup and the Olympics, was divinely ordained. 'Look what I have, I have everything,' he cried. 'Amazing the way things work out. God did that.' If he is to ease from commander of the armed forces to commander of everything, he will need more than God on his side. He'll need to own the military. Forty-five million bucks is a good starting bid. Stalin's 50th birthday celebration, in 1929, is considered the kickoff of his cult of personality. Hitler's 50th birthday military parade, in April 1939, was organized by the propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels for maximum grandeur, including a motorcade of 50 white limousines. Five months later, Germany invaded Poland. Kim Jong-un changed Loyalty Oath Day from 1 January to his birthday, 8 January. This February, the Republican US representative Claudia Tenney of New York introduced a bill to designate Trump's birthday as a national holiday. It hasn't gone anywhere – yet. The pieces are lining up like a phalanx of soldiers. The website of America250, the non-profit fundraising and marketing arm of the Semiquincentennial Commission, is an advertisement for Trump. Its description of the 'grand military parade' refers to him in the second sentence and proclaims that under his 'leadership, the U.S. Army has been restored to strength and readiness'. At the parade, the crowd of 200,000 parade spectators will be dominated by Maga idol worshippers. Trump will watch the extravaganza from a reviewing stand, just like Xi Jinping and Putin did recently at Red Square. The army's Golden Knights parachute team will land on the Eclipse and hand the president a flag. Officials say there are 'no plans' to sing Happy Birthday, but there are rumors the army will also give Trump a birthday gift. Let's call 14 June what it promises to be: the ceremonial birth of the US's 21st-century fascist regime. Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books. Her Substack, Today in Fascism, is at
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Macron decorates Indonesian leader with top French award
The two leaders had attended a military parade before the top award was bestowed on the Indonesian president. (AFP pool pic) MAGELANG : French President Emmanuel Macron bestowed Indonesia's leader with France's top award on Thursday, before announcing a new cultural partnership with Jakarta on a visit to the world's largest Buddhist temple. Macron's trip to Indonesia is the second stop of a three-nation, six-day tour of Southeast Asia that began with Vietnam and concludes in Singapore. After meeting for talks in the capital Jakarta, Macron and his counterpart Prabowo Subianto flew by helicopter on Thursday from Javan city Yogyakarta to a military academy in Magelang, a city in Central Java surrounded by mountains. The pair attended a military parade and Macron gave Prabowo the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, France's highest military or civil award. Prabowo is an ex-general accused of rights abuses under dictator Suharto's rule in the late 1990s. He was discharged from the military over his role in the abductions of democracy activists but denied the allegations and was never charged. Macron rode in a jeep driven by Prabowo with the pair welcomed by a marching band and hundreds of students waving Indonesian flags. Macron then visited Borobudur, a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century that is the world's largest, where the pair announced they were boosting cultural ties. 'In front of this temple, we are taking an important step by launching a new cultural partnership,' said Macron. 'The first pillar is heritage and museum cooperation. The second pillar is cultural and creative industries,' he said. Macron said the basis of the new partnership would be cinema and fashion, as well as video games, design and gastronomy. The French leader will depart for Singapore where he will deliver the opening address on Friday at the Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum. On Wednesday, the pair called for progress on 'mutual recognition' between Israel and the Palestinians at a key meeting next month as Macron brought the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation into his diplomatic efforts. 'Indonesia has stated that once Israel recognises Palestine, Indonesia is ready to recognise Israel and open the diplomatic relationship,' said Prabowo. Indonesia has no formal ties with Israel and support for the Palestinian cause among Indonesians runs high. The nations also signed a series of agreements on cooperation in a range of fields including defence, trade, agriculture, disaster management, culture and transport.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Congress Faces Criticism For Increased Pentagon Spending
Critics of Trump administration policy have zeroed in on the president's plan to hold a military parade on his birthday, purportedly to honor the U.S. Army, at the same time that the administration and its allies in Congress are seeking deep cuts in veterans benefits and services. If the administration truly wants to honor our men and women in uniform, it should spend whatever is needed to take care of them, and it should elevate stories of individual bravery and effort in defense of the nation and the Constitution. Instead, it has chosen to mount a costly spectacle that nods at our military personnel, past and present, while coming up empty when it comes to providing them with genuine support. Many veterans have rejected the idea that the parade is even in their honor. As Naveed Shah, political director of the veteran-led organization Common Defnse has noted, 'As an Army veteran myself, I'm proud of the Army's birthday. But this parade seems like it's all about the president's ego rather than the troops who sacrifice everything in order to serve our country.' But even as criticism of the parade grows, it is important that we don't take our eyes off of the Pentagon budget debate in Congress, which will be much more consequential in its impacts on veterans and non-veterans alike. As time winds down for Congress to finalize the budget for this year – nine months past the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025, which officially started on October 1st of last year – it appears to be marching towards a massive spending plan which is more likely to make America and its allies less safe than it is to bolster our security for the nextd generation, as Sen. Wicker and his colleagues seem to believe. The House has already signed off on a $150 billion increase beyond what the Pentagon is likely to ask for over the next several years, a sum Senate Armed Services Committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has called a 'generational investment' in defending America. But if any budget lines deserve a generational investment, they should be measures to combat climate change, prevent disease, curb inequality, and fund smart diplomacy and foreign economic assistance. The drive to increase Pentagon spending is also questionable because of the way it is being promoted, via reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process for rushing a bill through Congress on an expedited basis, a process which undermines that notion of bipartisan debate and input that had been a model for handling Pentagon budget requests in past years. Spending to address the major non-military challenges outlined above is not only insufficient relative to what is needed, but the House plan would seriously cut back existing, inadequate funding in these areas. If the House plan is adopted by the Senate, the result would be domestic and foreign policies that fund weapons and preparation for war while underinvesting in the pursuit of domestic strength and the maintenance of non-military tools of statecraft. The United States would be akin to a weight lifter who can lift prodigious amounts but is so bulked up they can't lift their hands above their heads or engage in routine physical activities. A successful foreign policy requires a range of tools, not just a large Pentagon budget and a global military footprint. An overmilitarized budget is not the royal road to a more effective defense – it is a recipe for diminishing U.S. global influence while making conflict more likely. Hopefully criticism of the military parade and the parallel reductions in support for veterans will prompt the public to look at a larger question as well: does America really need a $1 trillion Pentagon budget to defend ourselves? And is there a solid plan on how to spend these huge sums? After the president's parade has come and gone, these questions will remain. How we answer them will have a generational impact, as Sen. Wicker has suggested, but it may not be he positive impact he envisions, but rather a weaker, more divided country that is undermining its strength at home in service of a misguided conception of how to address challenges abroad.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Congress is Marching to the Wrong Tune on Pentagon Spending
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) speaks to the press on the transparency from ... More the Department of Defense regarding the health of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. Secretary Austin was hospitalized for surgery relating to prostate cancer, which was not reported for several days. (Photo by Anna) Critics of Trump administration policy have zeroed in on the President's plan to hold a military parade on his birthday, purportedly to honor the U.S. Army, at the same time that the administration and its allies in Congress are seeking deep cuts in veterans benefits and services. If the administration truly wants to honor our men and women in uniform, it should spend whatever is needed to take care of them, and it should elevate stories of individual bravery and effort in defense of the nation and the Constitution. Instead, it has chosen to mount a costly spectacle that nods at our military personnel, past and present, while coming up empty when it comes to providing them with genuine support. Many veterans have rejected the idea that the parade is even in their honor. As Naveed Shah, political director of the veteran-led organization Common Defnse has noted, 'As an Army veteran myself, I'm proud of the Army's birthday. But this parade seems like it's all about the president's ego rather than the troops who sacrifice everything in order to serve our country.' But even as criticism of the parade grows, it is important that we don't take our eyes off of the Pentagon budget debate in Congress, which will be much more consequential in its impacts on veterans and non-veterans alike. As time winds down for Congress to finalize the budget for this year – nine months past the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025, which officially started on October 1st of last year – it appears to be marching towards a massive spending plan which is more likely to make America and its allies less safe than it is to bolster our security for the nextd generation, as Sen. Wicker and his colleagues seem to believe. The House has already signed off on a $150 billion increase beyond what the Pentagon is likely to ask for over the next several years, a sum Senate Armed Services Committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has called a 'generational investment' in defending America. But if any budget lines deserve a generational investment, they should be measures to combat climate change, prevent disease, curb inequality, and fund smart diplomacy and foreign economic assistance. The drive to increase Pentagon spending is also questionable because of the way it is being promoted, via reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process for rushing a bill through Congress on an expedited basis, a process which undermines that notion of bipartisan debate and input that had been a model for handling Pentagon budget requests in past years. Spending to address the major non-military challenges outlined above is not only insufficient relative to what is needed, but the House plan would seriously cut back existing, inadequate funding in these areas. If the House plan is adopted by the Senate, the result would be domestic and foreign policies that fund weapons and preparation for war while underinvesting in the pursuit of domestic strength and the maintenance of non-military tools of statecraft. The United States would be akin to a weight lifter who can lift prodigious amounts but is so bulked up they can't lift their hands above their heads or engage in routine physical activities. A successful foreign policy requires a range of tools, not just a large Pentagon budget and a global military footprint. An overmilitarized budget is not the royal road to a more effective defense – it is a recipe for diminishing U.S. global influence while making conflict more likely. Hopefully criticism of the military parade and the parallel reductions in support for veterans will prompt the public to look at a larger question as well: does America really need a $1 trillion Pentagon budget to defend ourselves? And is there a solid plan on how to spend these huge sums? After the president's parade has come and gone, these questions will remain. How we answer them will have a generational impact, as Sen. Wicker has suggested, but it may not be he positive impact he envisions, but rather a weaker, more divided country that is undermining its strength at home in service of a misguided conception of how to address challenges abroad.
