If President Donald Trump wants a military parade, then he’s going to have to find a way to pay for it.
At least, that’s what a spokesperson for the Washington, DC, mayor’s office told Washingtonian magazine.
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s communications director, Anu Rangappa, told Washingtonian that the mayor’s office will have “more to say when formal outreach begins,” but until then, “we do know that just like the wall, he will have to pay for it.”
On Tuesday, reports surfaced that Trump had asked the Pentagon to plan a military parade, similar to France’s Bastille Day. Military planners are looking at dates and locations for the parade, as well as costs, logistics and whether it is feasible to hold a parade displaying large weaponry such as tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue, a defense official told CNN.
Pentagon spokesman Charlie Summers said Tuesday that Trump asked for the military parade, adding that the planning process was in its “infancy.”
Trump was present at last year’s Bastille Day celebration with French President Emmanuel Macron, and later referred to it as “one of the greatest parades” he had ever seen.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford later confirmed that planning for the military parade is in the works.
A senior defense official previously told CNN that one option being considered is to hold the parade in November in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the ending of World War I on November 11, 1918.
However, there has been significant backlash to the idea since the proposal surfaced, with critics comparing it to the likes of oppressive regimes.
“We have a Napoleon in the making here,” Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, said Tuesday on CNN.
