This Saturday, the nation’s capitol will witness a show of strength featuring more than 6,000 soldiers, 150 armored vehicles and 50 helicopters. The event will commemorate both the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary and the 79th birthday for Trump, shown above saluting West Point graduates after delivering the commencement speech in May.
The military procession will begin at 6 p.m. ET at the Pentagon's north parking lot and go over the Memorial Bridge.
Crowds will gather on the Washington Monument grounds, and the event will have a presidential review stand, entertainment and fireworks, Axios reports.
The White House has billed the parade as one of the first events in a year-long celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary which occurs in 2026.
Bob Maginnis is senior fellow for national security at Family Research Council and author of the book Preparing for World War III.
"It is good for recruiting, generally speaking. It does bolster patriotism and nationalism. It's expensive because you have to bring all that equipment here. Of course, the mayor of Washington's concerned about the repair of roads. Sixty-ton tanks do tear up asphalt. I know I've torn up a lot of asphalt in Germany with tanks."
And Maginnis says it's a tenuous thing to a certain degree.
"Do we have the extra money to spend $40, $50, $60 million dollars for transporting the tanks and artillery pieces and the like, and is it sending the wrong message? These are tenuous times. Perhaps it's geopolitically important to remind people that we have this capability and that we are willing and able to use it, and this president wants to show the world. So, I don't know that I would have done it, if I had been in charge, but I can understand the rationale."
