EU News Digest Latest News & Updates
Mark Reinstein | Corbis | Getty Images
US. Army M109 Paladin 155mm Self-Propelled gun drives over the East end of the memorial bridge that leads into Arlington Memorial Cemetery, during the Desert Storm Victory Parade.
The framework for President Donald Trump’s “grand military parade” through the nation’s capital is beginning to take shape.
“We are looking towards November 11, around Veteran’s Day, and also possibly in conjunction with the World War I centennial celebration. So it would be a celebration not only of our currently serving members but also those of the past,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement.
However, there could be a potential scheduling conflict, as Trump is expected to attend a summit in Paris on Nov. 11 with 79 other world leaders. So it is unclear whether Trump will participate in the parade.
The White House would not comment on the president’s travel schedule and referred all parade questions to the Pentagon.
The U.S. has not held a major military parade in Washington since 1991 to mark the end of Operation Desert Storm. The 1991 parade reportedly cost approximately $8 million and was paid for with about $3 million in government funds and the rest with private donations.
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney expects the pageantry to have a price tag ranging from $10 million to $30 million.
The ceremony is said to be largely inspired by Trump’s front-row seat at France’s Bastille Day military parade in Paris.
In September, Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron and recalled how much he enjoyed watching the parade.
“It was a tremendous day, and to a large extent because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4 in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump said.
“We’re going to have to try to top it, but we have a lot of planes going over and a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see, and representatives from different wars and different uniforms.”
Trump reportedly asked Defense Secretary James Mattis to brief him on “concepts of operation for this event,” according to an unclassified Feb. 20 memo from national security advisor H.R. McMaster.
