The spectacle and the tension surrounding it also highlight D.C.’s dual identity as the seat of the U.S. federal government and a deep-blue city that overwhelmingly voted against Trump three times. Protest plans are also underway.
About 3,000 service members will be housed on unused floors of a General Services Administration building and 2,000 in an Agriculture Department building, Warren said. Most participating service members will arrive a couple of days before the parade, he said, and leave June 16.
Vehicles will arrive in the region by rail and be trucked into the city, he said. Participating aircraft will fly in.
Overall, 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft and 6,600 soldiers are expected to take part in the festivities, the Army has announced. There will be a fireworks display and a day-long festival on the National Mall with military demonstrations, musical performances and a fitness competition.
After an initial interview with The Post about the parade’s cost, Warren said the estimate he provided for the parade included other events taking place that day. He said he wasn’t able to provide a cost breakdown of each of the day’s events.
The parade will be part of a week-long celebration marking the anniversary of the Continental Congress’s vote to officially create the Continental Army to defend the colonies from the British. Other events include an Army birthday run at Fort Myer and a new exhibition at the National Museum of the U.S. Army.
Each division is responsible for funding transportation of personnel and equipment to and from the D.C. region.
“They’ll fund it, of course, but I think the important note is that it won’t affect their ability to train or supply themselves,” Warren said. “When units need more money, we give them more money.” Parade plans have been in the works for over a year, he said.
An application submitted earlier this spring called for the parade to begin at the Pentagon’s north parking lot at 6 p.m., cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C. and continue on Constitution Avenue NW, ending at 15th Street. The application was filed by America250.org, a nonprofit founded to support the federal government’s multiyear celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The Army’s Golden Knights will parachute down to the Ellipse, where there will be a presidential “review stand,” bleachers and a concert stage, the application says.
“The procession will tell the story of the history of the Army, beginning with the Revolutionary War and concluding with the modern-day Army,” Army spokesperson Heather Hagan said earlier.
Meanwhile, demonstrators from across the country also are making plans of their own, intending to protest Trump “and the War Machine” in D.C. that day, according to a permit application filed with the National Park Service last week. Andy Koch, a Minneapolis-based organizer with Freedom Road Socialist Organization helping to plan the protest, said a crowd hopes to rally in Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington and then march toward the military parade.
“As an Army veteran myself, I’m proud of the Army’s birthday,” said Naveed Shah, political director of Common Defense, a progressive veteran-led organization, “but this parade seems like it’s all about the president’s ego rather than the troops who sacrifice everything in order to serve our country.”
Seven years ago, when Trump in his first term proposed a parade inspired by one he saw in France, his vision was swiftly met with jeers from local leaders and residents concerned about road damage and costs.
The D.C. Council offered a simple message on social media: “Tanks but No Tanks!” The mayor wrote in a tweet that went viral: “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).”
Since Trump returned to the Oval Office, Bowser has taken a different stance toward the president as she tries to walk a fine line between trying to discourage federal intervention and using priorities shared by her administration, Trump and the GOP-led Congress to benefit the District.
Still, Bowser said last month at an unrelated event that her concerns about military tanks on city roads still apply.
“If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,” she said. Her office declined to comment further Thursday.
The Army is working with local law enforcement, the National Park Service, the District Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Park Police and D.C. Water, which will assess the roads and bridges, said Hagan, the Army spokesperson.
The last time troops paraded in D.C. was in 1991, when 800,000 people poured into the nation’s capital to honor Gulf War service members and watch a seven-block-long display of military equipment.
Olivia George is a breaking news reporter on the Local Desk. She joined The Post in 2024 from the Tampa Bay Times. Send her secure tips on Signal at 202-735-1256.
Plans for the sweeping festivities honoring the Army’s 250th birthday on June 14 are roaring into focus. But the full cost is unknown, Army officials said.
May 21, 2025 at 5:58 p.m. EDT
More than two dozen tanks, 34 horses, 50 helicopters and thousands of troops — many in period costume from past wars — will be part of the sweeping military celebration in D.C. next month to honor the Army’s 250th birthday, officials said Wednesday, offering new details on the multimillion-dollar event.
The festivities for June 14 — which is also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday — will feature country singers Noah Hicks and Scotty Hasting, Army officials said at a news conference about the specifics of an extravaganza that could cost the Army alone an estimated $25 million to $45 million.
Army spokesman Steve Warren said Wednesday that he did not have an estimate for the entire government’s cost.
“That amount of money is dwarfed by 250 years of service and sacrifice that American soldiers have given this country,” Warren said. “This is an opportunity to really strengthen the connection between America and her Army.”
Events are planned across the country and around the globe, officials said. But the occasion is unlikely to engulf a city quite like it will the nation’s capital, where the National Mall will host a day-long festival, fireworks will decorate the sky and thousands of troops traveling to participate will sleep in downtown buildings. Officials estimate 200,000 people — about five times the capacity of Nationals Park — will attend.
Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks, according to America250. Army officials Wednesday said there is no plan for the Army to officially recognize the president’s birthday during the celebration.
The day will culminate with a parade, with troops wearing uniforms representing every U.S. conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War and march about a mile down Constitution Avenue from near the Lincoln Memorial at 23rd Street NW to the Washington Monument at 15th Street NW. For each war, there will be 60 troops in period costume uniforms, followed by 400 troops from that same unit in their regular battle dress.
They will be accompanied by 28 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Bradley fighting vehicles, 28 Strykers and other military equipment. Thirty-four horses, two mules and a dog also will participate in the parade. (The dog’s name was not available at press time.) More than 50 helicopters will participate in a flyover.
The parade will be followed by a parachute jump by the Army’s Golden Knights, who will land on the Ellipse near the White House and present the American flag to Trump. Then 250 recruits and soldiers will be enlisted and reenlisted by the president.
The celebration’s overlap with Trump’s birthday has stirred ire among some civilians and veterans, especially at a time when his overhaul of the federal government includes slashing the workforce at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
While the Army’s celebration has been in the works for about two years, Warren said, the parade was introduced this year. He said it grew out of discussions with stakeholders across the government.
“This was not a directive that I’m aware of,” Warren said. “I don’t know who gets the credit.”
Trump has long mused about soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the streets of the capital and aircraft roaring overhead. But he backed off the idea in 2018 amid pushback from the Army and D.C. officials over exorbitant costs and the damage tanks might cause to roads.
The Army is finalizing plans to place large metal plates at key points on the route to better protect streets from the movements of tanks set to roll through. The tanks are also being fitted with new rubber track pads.
“We’re not expecting damage,” said Col. Jesse Curry, executive officer to the Army’s Chief of Engineers. “If there is any damage, the Army is responsible.”
When asked whether the District can expect to be reimbursed for other expenses such as trash collection, street closures and city police overtime, the Army officials said they didn’t know.
The celebration marks the anniversary of the Continental Congress’s vote to officially create the Continental Army to defend the colonies from the British. In addition to festivities in D.C., officials said there would be fun runs, family festivals and fitness contests at locations from Japan and Korea to Germany and Poland.
“It’s also national, it’s global and it’s even interstellar,” Warren said, adding that an Army astronaut will dial in from the International Space Station. “That’s how big the party is.”
Approximately 3,000 service members will be housed in downtown D.C. on unused floors of a General Services Administration building and 2,000 in an Agriculture Department building, The Washington Post previously reported. For breakfast and lunch, troops will be offered individual food rations known in Army parlance as MREs — Meal, Ready-to-Eat. They will be offered a hot meal for dinner plus about $69 per day to cover incidentals and alternative food, Army officials said.
Most will arrive in D.C. on June 11 and leave June 15, Army officials said Wednesday, revising previous estimates.
With less than four weeks to go until the event, participating tanks and heavy vehicles are being loaded onto trains in Texas to travel to Maryland. They will then be trucked into a staging area at D.C.’s West Potomac Park. Some lightweight vehicles will stage at the Pentagon and then cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge to integrate with the parade.
Army officials said they are in close communication with the Federal Aviation Administration to coordinate the flyover with activity at nearby Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac River.
Activities on the Mall will begin Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. fitness competition among service members. Throughout the day, Army equipment and exhibits with interactive displays, including night vision goggles, will be open to the public. A cannon will fire a ceremonial gun salute on the hour. There will be a “Kids Zone” with climbing walls, face painting and cornhole.
The parade will begin at 6 p.m. and last about an hour and a half. Fireworks start at 9:45 p.m. Free tickets for the parade and Mall festivities are available through America250’s event registration portal.
As officials finalize parade plans, protests are being coordinated, too. Demonstrators from across the country intend to protest Trump “and the War Machine” in D.C. that day, according to a permit application filed this month with the National Park Service. Andy Koch, a Minneapolis-based organizer with Freedom Road Socialist Organization helping to plan the protest, said a crowd hopes to rally in Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington and then march toward the military parade.
Beyond Washington, hundreds of rallies and demonstrations are planned across the country, spearheaded by Indivisible and a coalition of other progressive groups in a movement they have called “NO KINGS Nationwide Day of Defiance.”
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