United States President Donald Trump loves to show off his military might. This week, he's showing off two completely different forms of that power.
On one coast, thousands of military personnel are arriving to protect federal buildings and agents, facing civilians protesting the president's immigration policies. On the other, a parade is being prepared to celebrate American military might, marking the birthday of the US military - and Trump.
The scenes in Los Angeles and Washington underscore how Trump is using his role as commander-in-chief more clearly and urgently than he did during his first term, portraying the kind of strong military leader he has always respected, whether by allies or adversaries.
Trump has long seen the military and his command of it as a symbol of his own power, even expressing a sense of ownership over it. During his first term, he referred to John Kelly and James Mattis, retired four-star Marine generals who served in his cabinet, as “my generals.” Trump’s allies argue that time has only reinforced that sentiment and removed any reservations, allowing him to further expand his role as commander-in-chief, whether displaying the military in parades or using it to quell protests.
“When you have a four-year break from office, you really have a chance to think about how you would do the job differently, and I think that’s showing in a lot of ways now,” said Sean Spicer, who was press secretary during Trump’s first term. “He’s much more confident in his role as commander in chief.” Spicer added: “He really loves being commander in chief.”
In recent days, Trump has mobilized thousands of California National Guard members and deployed hundreds of Marines, despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, to quell protests in Los Angeles against his deportation policy. It comes as he prepares to oversee a very different display of power on Saturday: a military parade brimming with American patriotism, the kind he has long dreamed of, to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. military.
More than 100 military vehicles and thousands of soldiers are planned to participate, with M1A2 Abrams tanks passing down Constitution Avenue in front of the White House, while Black Hawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters, as well as World War II and Vietnam War-era aircraft, will circle the sky.
According to the US military, the cost of the parade could range between $25 million and $50 million, making it the most expensive military parade in recent history.
Trump has wanted to hold a military parade in Washington since 2017, when he attended the Bastille Day parade with French President Emmanuel Macron. At the time, soldiers marched down the Champs-Élysées as fighter jets flew overhead, leaving trails of red, white and blue smoke. Trump later called the parade “one of the greatest I’ve ever seen,” but his advisers talked him out of hosting a similar event.
Trump has also praised military parades by countries perceived as adversaries of the US. During a state visit to China in 2017, he called a military parade “magnificent,” and after North Korea toned down its parade in 2018, reportedly omitting its nuclear weapons, he praised the country, saying it was a “great and very positive message.”
Marc Short, who served as director of legislative affairs and chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence during Trump's first term, said the coincidence of the military parade in Washington and the protest in Los Angeles was coincidental, but acknowledged that the two events presented a stark contrast.
"He's always wanted a military parade during his first term," Short said. "There's no doubt that there are things that he feels he learned from his first term in this second attempt and now wants to implement as he envisioned."
One former Trump official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also called the administration's response to the Los Angeles protests and the military parade "a holistic approach to national security, using all elements of state power as needed."
“This administration understands that civil unrest and social cohesion are integral to our overall security,” the official said. “You cannot be a safe and prosperous country when rioters are waving foreign flags and running rampant in major cities.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that “America has been honored again” since Trump became commander in chief. “Thanks to this president’s leadership, our homeland is safe, enlistment numbers are rising, our service members are prioritized, and America’s military is getting the grand celebration it deserves for 250 years of honor, courage, and sacrifice,” Kelly said.
Trump's response to the Los Angeles riots has given him an opportunity to do something he failed to do during his first term. His decision to mobilize the first contingent of troops just 24 hours after the protests began, without the support of Governor Newsom, contrasts with his response to the protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, when he instead waited for governors to send in their own National Guard units.
The displays of military force also reflect another key theme of his second term, his desire to bend American institutions to his will, from elite universities and cultural centers to the federal bureaucracy and the military itself. In a recent address to graduates of the West Point Military Academy, the president boasted about dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the military and said he had “rebuilt the military.”
“During his second term, I think he really became what I call a unilateralist. He wants to do things that he can do alone, so no one can stop him,” said Tevye Troy, a former White House official in President George W. Bush’s administration and now a presidential historian.
However, Troy pointed out that while Trump likes demonstrations of military power and is willing to use military resources at home to quell civil unrest, secure the border, or assist with deportations, he is much more cautious when it comes to sending troops into major conflicts abroad.
In some respects, Trump has been more demanding of the military in the first five months of his second term than he was in his entire first, deploying 10.000 active-duty and National Guard members to the southern border, using dozens of military transport planes to ferry migrants around the world, and sending thousands of troops to Los Angeles.
Military parades are a common occurrence for many branches of the armed forces. The Marines hold a small parade at their barracks in Washington, D.C., near the Capitol, almost every week during the summer, while the Navy holds “fleet week,” during which ships dock in the city’s harbors.
But the parades are not personally organized by the president. The scale and symbolism of today’s parade, as well as Trump’s deployment of U.S. troops on his own soil, have divided the traditionally apolitical Pentagon bureaucracy along party lines, a Defense Department official said. Trump supporters in the Pentagon are defending the event as a celebration of the U.S. military’s birthday, while Trump’s opponents compare it to military parades in North Korea.
“The American military has always been his way of projecting power,” one former defense official said of recent events. “He likes to threaten the world with his power. And now he’s threatening domestic enemies, which includes anyone he presents as a liberal or a Democrat, and anyone who speaks out against him.”
Translation: NB
Bonus video:
