Trump presides over a lackluster military parade amid nationwide protests

WashingtonTanks and soldiers paraded through Washington on Donald Trump's anniversary while thousands of people took to the streets across the country to protest his policies under the slogan "No Kings Day." The president has obtained the parade he so desired, although it probably wasn't the one he imagined. The gaps in the crowd on the Mall lawn were noticeable and contrasted sharply with the massive images of the demonstrations in Dallas, Chicago, or New York. In a surprisingly brief speech, Trump defended the event as a way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the military. But the closing performance was by singer Lee Greenwood who, as during campaign rallies, sang the "God Bless USA"[God bless America]. 'Happy birthday, President,' she shouted from the stage.

Before passing through one of the many security checkpoints set up around the Gavel, Dorothy Green, a Washington resident, defended the quote: "I came to honor our military and to celebrate Green's birthday." They have been exaggerating" the idea that Trump had given himself a military parade. Next to her sat Jessica Murdoch, a 72-year-old woman wearing a T-shirt that read "Pardon our President" in different languages. "I came to protest: it's another authoritarian gesture from Trump," she defended herself. "That's not true, it's to celebrate the military. And if you don't like it, leave," she snapped.

"If you threaten the American people, our troops will be behind you," Trump said, with two tanks parked in front of the presidential gallery from where he watched the spectacle flanked by First Lady Melania and the Secretary of State. "Your defeat will be certain; your demise, final... because our troops never surrender, never capitulate, and never, never quit. They fight, fight, fight—and they win, win, win." A reference to the slogan "Fight, Fight, Fightwhich he coined at the Republican convention in Milwaukee where he proclaimed himself the party's sole leader.

Unaccustomed to pomp

Trump had hoped for a march on Washington using the military as a metaphor for his power, but he had to settle for a parade that bore little resemblance to the Bastille Day celebrations he witnessed in Paris in 2017, which had so dazzled him. Instead, the president saw a lackluster display, with soldiers marching listlessly. Despite having one of the most powerful militaries in the world, US troops are unused to the pomp of military spectacles.

The red MAGA hats and T-shirts with Trump's face far outnumbered those of the military. One man walked through the crowd with a "Trump 2028" flag, while others wore T-shirts bearing the Republican's mugshot from when he was accused of interfering in the 2020 election. Despite turning another institutional event into a campaign rally, the Republican has failed to recreate the epic. Despite the chants of "USA," apathy hung in the air as the 6,600 soldiers and more than 200 tanks, vehicles from the Revolutionary War era to the present day, paraded by.

Despite the military paraphernalia and traffic disruptions caused by blocked streets, Washington enjoyed a day of calm and a relative degree of normalcy. The capital was the only exception among the anti-Trump protests, as organizers didn't want to give the president an excuse to militarize the city like he did with Los Angeles. While the soldiers' boots were leaving, some 2,000 "No Kings Day" events were being organized in all 50 states.

Hours before the tanks and soldiers made their appearance, A man killed a Democratic congresswoman and wounded another in Minnesota.The episode of political violence capped a week of growing tension over protests in the California city against immigration raids. After recent days of de-escalation on the streets of Los Angeles, this Saturday saw renewed charges by mounted police and clashes with protesters.