US President Donald Trump is wrapping himself up in martial symbolism at a series of military events this week — even as he faces accusations of authoritarianism after sending thousands of active-duty troops to protest-hit Los Angeles.
Trump will continue his long fascination with military trappings when he gives a speech on Tuesday at Fort Bragg, the country’s largest military installation, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army.
The Republican then presides over a huge, highly unusual military parade in Washington to mark the same anniversary on Saturday — a day which also happens to be Trump’s own 79th birthday.
“For Trump, what matters is the spectacle. And the military is a heck of a spectacle,” Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media, told AFP.
“The military parade, the military in Los Angeles is theater of leadership, theater of governing, without paying attention to the real-world consequences.”
Trump was sent to a military academy as a child by his property tycoon father, and seems to have loved military pomp ever since — even if repeated educational and medical deferments meant he could avoid the draft to fight in Vietnam.
During his first presidential term, the former reality TV star loved to pose alongside what he called “his” generals, even as he reportedly berated them for not being as loyal as Nazi leader Adolf Hilter’s top officers.
He first had the idea for a grand military parade after attending France’s annual Bastille Day parade in Paris at the invitation of his friend, President Emmanuel Macron, but was put off by the cost and warnings that heavy tanks could damage Washington’s streets.
But Trump would not be dissuaded as he flexed his presidential power in his second term.
Tanks, helicopters and troops will rumble through the US capital on Saturday in the biggest such parade in decades, at a cost of up to $45 million.
“It is my birthday, but I’m not celebrating my birthday,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “It happens to be the same day so I take a little heat.”
‘Very big force’
The president however made it clear he would not tolerate anyone spoiling the party.
“If there’s any protest that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” Trump said on Tuesday when asked about the parade.
Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg is also sending a message about what his new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth calls a new, “woke-free” military.
One of Trump’s first acts back in office was to change Fort Bragg, which houses the US special forces command, back to its original name.
Previously named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general in the US Civil War, the base in North Carolina was renamed Fort Liberty under Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump’s administration says it now honors private first class Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero.
World War II appears to have been increasingly on Trump’s mind since returning to office.
He recently designated May 8 “Victory Day,” noting that unlike much of Europe the United States had no day to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany — and he has repeatedly downplayed the role of US allies in the war.
“You would be speaking German right now, okay? We won the war, and you might be speaking Japanese too,” Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Critics say that Trump’s military fascination underscores an authoritarian streak.
Trump has leaned into the strongman imagery of deploying 700 Marines as well as 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to deal with protests in Los Angeles.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom branded Trump “dictatorial” and said the move was a deliberate attempt to inflame the situation in the city for political gain.
“The imagery is very much strongman: I am Donald Trump, America is a nation of force and power, because look at all the images of force and power,” Loge said.
