May 15 (UPI) — The price tag for President Donald Trump’s scheduled military parade in June could top $45 million, according to planning documents.
The event is set to take place on June 14th, Trump’s 79th birthday, which is also the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, and will feature tanks, warplanes and other military equipment on display in the streets of Washington, as well as 7,500 soldiers stationed in key government office buildings nearby, according to USA Today.
Trump’s Democratic critics have said the president is co-opting the parade as an opportunity for self aggrandizement.
“This is Trump,” Sen. Jack Reid, R.I., said. “This is all about his ego and making everything about him. The only thing he’d be disappointed about is that he couldn’t fly his plane over the parade.”
Reid is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Trump has insisted that the parade is about putting the United States’ military strength on display. He said during a may 4th appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press that displaying U.S. military fire power in a parade is “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
Trump also has been criticized for agreeing to accept a Boeing 747 from Qatar, and has raised concerns over political corruption.
Administration officials have said the parade is an opportunity to show off the world’s most powerful military and nod to the enlisted servicemen and women.
Military personnel and equipment are scheduled to begin arriving in the streets several days before the event.
