Almost a decade after he first proposed it, Donald Trump will see a military parade in the streets of Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
The parade, which is officially called the Army Birthday Parade and is meant to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, comes with a price tag of somewhere between $25 million and $45 million, will involve hundreds of Army vehicles, thousands of soldiers and dozens of warplanes, and will suspend passenger traffic at Reagan National Airport. It also happens to occur on Trump’s 79th birthday.
Trump, in his first term, pushed for a military parade, with soldiers marching through Washington and tanks rolling down the city streets, in 2018, following his attendance of Bastille Day in Paris. He told aides on Air Force One on the trip home that he wanted to create a similar show of military force in the U.S.
The idea was scuttled after military leaders calculated the parade would cost $92 million—and Washington city officials expressed concern about the impact of the parade on local roads and the $21 million it would cost for public safety.
While there’s plenty of controversy about this year’s parade, there’s also curiosity about it. Here’s all you need to know about the parade and how to watch it.
