Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028715
USA
TRUMP BIRTHDAY OR SERIOUS HISTORIC PARADE
Reflections on Trump's Army parade in Washington
TRUMP BIRTHDAY OR SERIOUS HISTORIC PARADE
Reflections on Trump's Army parade in Washington
A U.S. Army tank crew waves at attendees during a celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary on Flag Day, Saturday in Washington. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)
Original article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/15/military-parade-worth-watching-patriotism/
For the army, this was mission accomplished.
Opinion written by Max Boot
Max Boot is a Washington Post columnist and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in biography, he is the author, most recently, of the New York Times bestseller “Reagan: His Life and Legend,' which was named one of the 10 best books of 2024 by the New York Times.
June 15, 2025 at 12:13 p.m. EDT
I arrived for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington on a drizzly Saturday afternoon with considerable consternation and concern.
I knew that President Donald Trump had been agitating for such a spectacle since 2017, but that his first secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, had refused, because he viewed this as something that occurred in dictatorships such as Russia and North Korea. In private, Mattis reportedly said he would rather “swallow acid” than have troops parading through the capital.
Now, Trump has a far more accommodating, and far less qualified, secretary of defense in Pete Hegseth, thereby opening the door to the politicization of the U.S. armed forces. That danger has been on display in the past week, with Trump deploying the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles over the protests of local leaders and delivering a campaign-style speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that produced disturbing video clips of 82nd Airborne troops cheering while he bashed Democrats and the media.
My worry was that Trump would turn the Army parade into just another political pageant. Those concerns only grew when I saw how many of the spectators were wearing MAGA hats or shirts.
But my apprehension began to melt away as soon as the music started to play and the soldiers began to march.
Dear reader, I hope you do not think I am going soft on Trump if I tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the entire parade.
As a military history nerd, I loved to see the soldiers marching by in period uniforms from the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. I thrilled to the flybys from historic aircraft — including a C-47 transport, P-51 fighter aircraft and a Huey helicopter — and the daring skydiving of the Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team. I thought it was cool to see some soldiers going by on horseback, while others drove historic vehicles such as Jeeps and M4 Sherman tanks. Near the end, the Army even showcased its weapons of the future with a drone flyby and a walk-by from drones resembling dogs.
One of the more controversial aspects of the parade was the participation of 70-ton M1 Abrams tank, which had the potential to tear up city streets and to recall unpleasant images from other countries of what happens when tanks enter the capital. (“Thanks but no tanks,” read a protest sign I glimpsed on my way in.) But I enjoyed seeing the smoke-belching monsters rattle down the street, and it was hard to see anything threatening about it when the crew members were smiling and waving at the spectators and, in some cases, making heart gestures with their hands.
This was not a menacing, goose-stepping parade a la Moscow or Pyongyang. It was America’s army on display, and I appreciated how many of the GIs were women or ethnic minorities — a reminder of the limits of Hegseth’s anti-DEI purges in a force that truly represents the entire country.
I think it was a good thing for Americans to be reminded of the glorious history of their army — a force for freedom that has defeated some of the most monstrous evils of the past two centuries, including the Confederacy, Imperial and Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the Soviet empire. Granted, the Army has also engaged in reprehensible conduct over the centuries, from the American Indian Wars to Abu Ghraib, but it makes sense on a day like this to celebrate, rather than criticize, the soldiers who put their lives on the line to defend us.
My enjoyment of the parade, admittedly, was heightened by the fact that I was sitting at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 14th Street, safely out of sight of the reviewing stand on the Ellipse where Trump sat glowering as the troops marched past. I was greatly relieved that Trump, in a rare amount of self-control, kept his remarks short and focused on the Army — not, as is usually the case, on glorifying himself or bashing his political opponents.
I even secretly enjoyed the post-parade ceremony where Trump led a group of new soldiers in taking their oath of enlistment. I hope he noted that they swore to “support and defend the Constitution,” not the MAGA movement, and that while they vowed to obey the president’s orders and those of “officers appointed over me,” there was an important addendum: “according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” (Those regulations prohibit “partisan political activity.”)
Rolling Stone headlined its story about the day: “Trump’s military birthday was a gross failure.” I think that’s right, but the flip side is that the Army’s military parade was an absolute success. In other words, Trump did not hijack the event. For the Army, this was mission accomplished. With night falling on Washington and the skies clearing up, I’m sure that the generals left the festivities with as much relief as I did.
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
For me, Trump's celebration of 'his army' and 'his birthday' was a complete 'fail'.
More than anything else, the memory I have of seeing the parade via the Internet, is the incredibly bored looks on the faces of all the Trump dignitories sitting on the parade reviewing stand ... including Trump himself.
Also how 'drab' the parade was. While this may have been historically correct, it did not make for a good spectacle.
Thinking back to my boyhood history in the UK, I remember being taught that the Revolutionary War in America was lost in large part because the British wore bright red colored uniforms and George Washington's troops wore rag-tag work-clothes that were difficult to see in the 'fog of war'.
Contemporary, British military parades like the recent parade in London remembering 80 years since VE Day , and the quite frequent 'Trooping of the Colours' are great spectacles and incredibly colorful. The recent Washington parade in contrast lacked color ... good for sure on the battlefield, not not great for a parade!
And in many ways for me the parade also reminded me of the extreme economic inefficiency that the modern American military industry complex represents. President Dwight Eisenaouer warned about this in his last speach as President but US leadership has done little or nothing about it now over many decades!
More than anything else, my takeaway from this past weekend is how modern US political and corporate priorities are out-of-touch with what most ordinary people want and how much is possible if only resources were deployed in an optimum manner to this end!
It is also worth noting that while a lot of people demonstated peacably last Saturday, there was a considerable amount of violence as well. In many places, US police tactics seem to have aggravated rather than mitigated violence. Around 65 years ago I participated in the Aldermaston Marches in the UK while I was a student. This was in connection with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) which later was associated with the US Peace Movement and protests against America's involvement in the Vietnam War.
This past weekend, I have reflected a lot on the very poor track record the USA has had in promoting peace since the end of WWII.
I cannot help myself ... but my assessment is that US world leadership has been rather pathetic and very self-serving over the past eight decades. Maybe ... and hopefully ... something better is going to emerge thanks to the Trump 'wake-up call' and reminder that an 'American (US)' agenda would be a disaster!
G7 in Canada will likely deliver another interesting wave of world news. Stay tuned!
Peter Burgess
What readers are saying
The comments on the article reflect a largely negative sentiment towards the military parade, with many criticizing it as a political stunt by President Trump. Several commenters express disdain for Trump's involvement, noting his past disparaging remarks about military service
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