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The same Donald Trump who has spent months attacking NFL players for kneeling in protest because it’s disrespectful to the men and women in the military, has now canceled a parade specifically meant to celebrate the military.
Friday, President Donald Trump confirmed he had canceled a planned military parade this fall in the nation’s capital due to the “ridiculously high” price tag given by Washington D.C. officials.
“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. 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 tweeted.
“Never let someone hold you up! I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!”
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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, has already responded to Trump’s claims.
“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),” she said in a tweet on Friday.
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). https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx
— MurielBowser (@MurielBowser) August 17, 2018
The irony of all this is that the military parade was specifically requested by Trump earlier this year, but on Thursday, a defense official informed NBC News that the high end estimated cost of the parade was $92 million. And that price tag is what made him distance himself from the event.
The Department of Defense says the parade will still be happening but is being delayed until 2019.
“The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I,” said Col. Rob Manning on Thursday. “We originally targeted November 10, 2018, for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”