NOT MY pres drumpf/trump canceled his military parade because he is an idiot and the government of D.C. refused to give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants in the District. Little cadet bone spurs got his panties in a bunch, threw a twitter hissy fit and decided he was just going to find another way to waste taxpayers money. From the Washington Post.....
Trump blames D.C. officials for postponement of his military parade; Bowser responds his plan was ‘sad’
President Trump on Friday blamed local officials for his decision to postpone a grand military parade in Washington this fall, alleging without evidence that they had unreasonably inflated the price.
“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it.”
Trump said it was possible the parade could be staged next year if the cost “comes WAY DOWN” and added that with the savings “we can buy some more jet fighters!”
His tweets came a day after the Pentagon said the planned Nov. 10 parade might be postponed amid questions about the event’s increasing costs.
About an hour after the president’s tweet, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) delivered her own caustic response on Twitter, indicating the desired parade would have cost $21.6 million to organize in the nation’s capital. The federal government typically reimburses the District for a large share of the security and logistical costs for such events.
“Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad),” Bowser tweeted.
A city official said the planning process for the parade had been difficult to coordinate with White House officials, who had been slow to communicate details of the event, including plans for a specific date.
Although the president has long discussed a potential military parade, it was only on Aug. 8 that Bowser received a letter from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen saying the event would take place “on or about Nov. 10, 2018” and discussing the need for planning and coordination with city agencies.
The White House Office of Management and Budget did not approach D.C. city officials until Tuesday to discuss logistical costs, a Bowser administration official said.
The White House had scant details about the event, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the negotiations with the president’s team. There was no indication of how long the parade would last – including whether it would span multiple days – or confirmation of the Nov. 10 date, the official said. There was no precise route specified, or estimates for the number of people or pieces of military equipment that would be involved.
“We had a general idea that it was from the Capitol to the White House, but that’s it,” the official said.
OMB requested that the city, despite the lack of detail, produce ballpark estimates of how much it would have to spend – and be reimbursed – in order to provide security and other services.
The city’s estimates, which were finalized Thursday, included $13.5 million for police, $3.6 million for fire and paramedics, $2.3 million for transportation services (including traffic control and work on Pennsylvania Avenue before and after the event) and a number of lesser expenses.
In a statement, a Pentagon spokesman on Thursday provided no reason for the apparent postponement, which came amid a spate of news reports that the event, which is expected to include aircraft, vehicles, period uniforms and symbols of U.S. power, could cost up to $92 million, far more than originally estimated.
That figure includes expenses borne by the Pentagon beyond what the city would bear.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis later told reporters that he “had received no such estimate” and that he would “discount that.”
“Whoever told you that is probably smoking something that is legal in my state, but not in most states,” Mattis said, referring to his home state of Washington. “I guarantee you there’s been no cost estimate.”
Officials have been planning the event since earlier this year, when the president, apparently inspired by a similar display he observed last year in France, discussed the parade in a meeting with senior officials at the Pentagon.
In his tweets, Trump said he would go to a parade in Paris to mark Armistice Day on Nov. 11 and also attend a “big parade” already scheduled at Joint Base Andrews this fall.
Large military parades have been rare in recent U.S. history, though the George H.W. Bush administration staged a military parade in Washington in 1991 after the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War.
Earlier this year, a senior Trump administration official said the parade would probably cost between $10 million and $30 million.
Major political events and nationally publicized demonstrations are a regular occurrence in the District – and they aren’t cheap.
In addition to the heavy police presence such events require, the city has to deal with trash cleanup, emergency medical services, and various other costs. Such events also tend to breed protests and counter-protests, adding to city officials’ logistical headaches.
Just last weekend, the city said it spent $2.6 million on a white-supremacist rally at which only two dozen demonstrators showed up. That event, which took place on the anniversary of a deadly riots by white nationalists last year in Charlottesville, Va., drew thousands of counter-protesters – including volatile bands of masked antifa activists – and required a heavy police presence. Much of that money could be reimbursed by the federal government, since the rally took place on National Park Service property.
The federal government reimbursed the city approximately $20 million for security and other costs stemming from Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. The day after the inauguration, Washington hosted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who participated in the Women’s March.
Local politicians in overwhelmingly Democratic Washington – where just 4 percent of registered voters cast a ballot for Trump – have been cool to the idea of a military parade since it was floated earlier this year.
A number of city officials joined Bowser Friday morning in responding to the president’s provocation, some objecting to the allegation the city — whose council includes no elected Republicans — was badly run.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) noted the District’s recent moves to cut taxes with the help of budget surpluses and an increase last month to the city’s bond rating.
“Mr. Trump should run his federal government as well as we are running ours,” Mendelson tweeted.
Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) also suggested the city has other priorities than Trump does.
“Happy to be targeted by Trump for wanting to spend our taxpayer dollars on uplifting working families and local DC businesses,” she wrote on Twitter, adding: “#Resist.”
Some leading Democrats in Congress have also argued the parade envisioned by Trump would be wasteful.
“I know President Trump really wants to lead a big military parade past his D.C. hotel, but a real leader wouldn’t put his own wishes above what’s best for our troops,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Friday. “Spending $100 million on this parade is beyond wasteful. Defense dollars would be better spent equipping our troops, caring for veterans, and enhancing national security.”
The American Legion, a veterans organization, said Thursday that while it appreciated that Trump wanted to show support for U.S. troops, other priorities should win out.
Asked about that view shortly before Trump sent out his tweet, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said “that’s their perspective” and ticked off actions that Trump has taken supportive of the military and veterans.
“We don’t need a parade to celebrate all this president has done for those brave men and women in uniform,” Conway said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Fox News.
Fenit Nirappil, Missy Ryan and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
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