DC Braces for Tanks and Weaponry for Trump’s Military Parade
Also today: California pitches emergency loans for LA, and a senator calls for the closure of a troubled detention facility.
Rail cars carrying long lines of tanks arrive in Jessup, Maryland, June 9, 2025, in advance of Saturday’s military parade.
Dozens of tanks have begun arriving in Washington, DC, for the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on June 14, during which they’ll roll through the city with scores of other military vehicles and some 6,600 soldiers. The spectacle falls on President Donald Trump’s birthday, prompting lawmakers to criticize the event as an expensive vanity project.
The parade, which comes on the heels of Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard and Marine troops to quell anti-deportation protesters in Los Angeles, has also drawn comparison to displays of force by authoritarian regimes. Such elaborate events are not without precedent; the last major military parade in the US was over 30 years ago. If history is any guide, a host of logistical challenges await officials, Linda Poon writes. Today on CityLab: Trump’s Military Parade Has Washington Bracing for Tanks and Weaponry