Trump has reportedly long sought this kind of celebration. Eight years ago, he witnessed France’s Bastille Day parade and said the United States is “going to have to try and top it.” The idea of a big military parade was quashed by military leadership in Trump’s first term.
But Trump’s appointment of Pete Hegseth, his chief interviewer on FOX News and extremely unqualified person as Secretary of Defense, has insured there are no objections to Trump’s wild decisions on how to use the U.S. military as his personal plaything, his toy, to include now ordering a parade in his honor, no matter how the $3 billion Pentagon public relations team tries to portray it as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Army.
In our polarized U.S. society, the administration has defended its decision to have the parade by taking extraordinary measures on the security of the parade and military equipment. Many streets in downtown Washington, DC, have been closed. Eighteen miles of fencing has cordoned off the entire national mall and the White House with 12-foot-high metal fences, the most ever placed in Washington, DC.
The level of closure of national property in Washington is unprecedented, even including presidential inaugurations.
Irony of Providing Massive Protection for the U.S. Army from its Citizens
It is quite ironic that Trump and his advisors feel that the mighty U.S. Army personnel and equipment must be protected from its citizens.
I suspect that all the way from top leaders of the Army down to the Army privates that are driving the tanks and other equipment in the parade are embarrassed about Trump’s decision to politicize the anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army … and then feel the need to protect them from their fellow citizens!
The U.S. Mlitary as Trump’s Private Militia
I also suspect that the rank and file of the U.S. military is beginning to feel like they are now considered to be Trump’s private militia, not the military charged with defending the country. Many in our military do recognize that the rationale of defending the country by invading and sanctioning other countries is not defending our country, is putting our country in danger by these actions, which are the reasons for tragic events such as 9/11. They also know that the federal law precludes deployment of active-duty personnel inside the United States unless there is a true national emergency, not a “trumped-up” political campaigning decision.
The deployment of active-duty and California National Guard by Trump into the streets of Los Angeles and the federalization of areas around the southern border have disturbed many who fear that the military is being used for purely political purposes by Trump.
Veterans Organizations Demand “Military Off Our Streets”
With Trump’s explicit threat of extreme force to be used against any protest of his birthday parade, on the evening Friday, June 13, 2025, hundreds of U.S. military veterans rallied in Washington, DC with a press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court denouncing Trump’s threats of violence and declaring that they want “Military Off Our Streets.” Organized by About Face, Veterans For Peace and other veterans groups, 60 were arrested for sitting peacefully and nonviolently on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
2,000 Communities in the U.S. Holding “No Kings Day” Demonstrations
Joining with the veterans protest on Friday, over 2,000 communities have organized demonstrations for “No Kings Day” in opposition to Trump’s birthday parade, emphasizing the Trump administration’s “escalating use of military force in American cities” and GOP efforts to target health insurance coverage for millions, food assistance, and other anti-poverty programs for millions.
Ann Wright is a 29-year U.S. Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired U.S. Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She is a member of the Veterans For Peace Advisory Board. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the 2010 Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book Dissent: Voices of Conscience. She has written frequently on rape in the military.
