Jacksonville demonstration shows solidarity for Los Angeles anti-ICE protests
Welcome to the Tuesday edition of Jacksonville's Morning News for June 10, 2025. First Alert Meteorologist Garrett Bedenbaugh is tracking more storms today along with continued heat. High temperatures will return to the 90s today before rain and storm coverage increases in the afternoon. A summer-time pattern continues with daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms alongside hot and humid conditions.
Three Big Things to Know:
People gathered in Jacksonville to stand in solidarity with protestors in Los Angeles calling for an end to immigration raids. "I think that its really important that when people are scared like this they feel like they cant come out to these protests they feel like they cants be visible so we have to be visible for them.', said Jamison Collin-Morita with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance. Many protesters say they'll be back today to stand against a proposed ordinance before City Council. It would block any city money from going to undocumented migrants.
President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to help respond to protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids. The authorization came after a day of mostly peaceful protests Monday. The 2,000 Guard members are an addition to the 2,100 Guard troops the president previously mobilized for the protests Sunday morning. Trump also deployed 700 Marines to help them Monday. Governor Gavin Newsom called the deployments reckless and 'disrespectful to our troops.' Trump said Monday that the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not deployed the Guard.
A teenager is seriously hurt in a crash involving an e-bike in Nocatee. The boy failed to stop for a vehicle at Rialto Drive and Nocatee Village Drive late yesterday afternoon when he was hit. He was taken by helicopter to a hospital for treatment. This comes just days after St. Johns County leaders decided against an ordinance that would add stricter rules for children riding e-bikes. Commissioners were considering a ban on kids under 14 from riding them, and setting strict speed limits. Instead, they passed a resolution encouraging riders to be safe.
Florida Senator Ashley Moody is pushing a bill that could make it easier to remove illegal immigrants. Moody and other Republicans announced yesterday they have introduced the REMOVE Act. It calls for removal proceedings to be concluded within fifteen days after they begin. Moody says this legislation is critical to allow for the prompt removal of aliens who have already been ordered removed.
The agency formed to grow Jacksonville's downtown has a new leader. The Downtown Investment Authority hired Colin Tarbert as its new CEO yesterday. He comes from Baltimore where he worked in economic development. Tarbert replaces Lori Boyer, who's retiring after six years in the role. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan says Tarbert has the experience, vision and passion needed to build on downtown's fast-growing momentum.
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USA Today
14 hours ago
- USA Today
Trump Mobile, gender care and the champion Panthers: The week in review
Floods ravage Texas, Appalachians Torrential rain and flash flooding in Texas and parts of West Virginia trapped drivers, swept vehicles away and pulled homes off their foundations, leaving as many as 20 people dead and communities struggling to recover. Thunderstorms over San Antonio dropped nearly 10 inches of rain in a matter of hours, more that double the amount of rain the area typically gets in all of June. Up to 4 inches drenched the Appalachian region, overwhelming creeks and waterways. 'It happened so quickly,' said Lou Vargo, Ohio County's emergency management director. "I've been doing this for 35 years. … I've never seen anything like this.' Court upholds gender care ban The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the transgender rights movement and a victory to the Trump administration when it upheld a Tennessee law barring gender-affirming care for minors. The ruling fell along ideological lines as the court's six conservative justices ruled in favor of the ban and the three liberals dissented. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said the decision was a victory 'in defense of America's children'; Kimberly Inez McGuire, head of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, said the court chose 'cruelty over care.' Trump Mobile answers the call Yet another enterprise is getting the Trump name. Trump Mobile, a new cellular service, will offer the 5G '47 Plan' for $47.45 a month (Donald Trump is the nation's 47th and 45th president) and its own phone, the T1 Phone, the Trump Organization announced. 'Trump Mobile is going to change the game,' said Donald Trump Jr., who runs the president's conglomerate with his brother Eric. The gold-colored phone will retail for $499. Of course that's not the only venture in the Trump orbit: There's Truth Social and the crypto company World Liberty Financial, plus Trump Bibles, watches, sneakers and guitars. Steve Carell's advice to grads: 'Just dance' When Steve Carell is your commencement speaker, you should be ready for anything. The actor, who was presented with an honorary degree from Northwestern University before he spoke to its graduates, briefly turned the ceremony into a dance party as he bolted off the stage and into the crowd of delighted grads to 'That's Not My Name' by The Ting Tings. 'That was as invigorating as it was disturbing,' he told them afterward. His speech was not without some sage advice: 'Remember to laugh when you have the opportunity and to cry when necessary,' he said. And, 'just dance sometimes.' Twice is nice for the Florida Panthers Who said the Sunshine State is no place for hockey? The Florida Panthers netted their second straight Stanley Cup − and denied the Edmonton Oilers a second straight time − with a 5-1 romp in front of the home crowd in Game 6 behind a record-tying four goals from winger Sam Reinhart. The Cats join their brethren the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021. As for Edmonton, falling short again was especially stinging: The last Canadian team to take home the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY copy chief
Politico
3 days ago
- Politico
Playbook: Inside Trump's thinking on Iran
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good Thursday morning, and Happy Juneteenth. This is Jack Blanchard. INCOMING: The first big heatwave of the summer is on its way to D.C., per the Capital Weather Gang. 'Starting Sunday, high temperatures are predicted to reach at least the mid-90s,' writes chief meteorologist Jason Samenow, 'and could flirt with 100-degree levels early next week.' Yeesh. And there's more: 'Brutal humidity levels will make it feel even hotter. Heat indexes, which factor in humidity, could reach 110 degrees or so by Monday,' he adds, noting these conditions could last up to a week. 'If the most aggressive models are accurate, the heat could approach or even exceed records between Monday and Wednesday.' Your Playbook author is already regretting promising to take the kids to the zoo … Send me your tips on how to survive. In today's Playbook … — Inside Trump's thinking as the world braces for U.S. strikes on Iran. — New 8,000-person megapoll offers a sliver of midterm hope for the House GOP. — Dems in disarray as DNC infighting hits new heights … Who's surprised? BREAKING OVERNIGHT: One of Israel's main hospitals, the Soroka Medical Center, was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile strike overnight, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowing Iran will 'pay a heavy price.' 'A hospital statement said several parts of the medical center were damaged and that the emergency room was treating several minor injuries,' per AP. Israel, too, carried out another wave of strikes last night, including on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor. NYT reports hundreds of Iranian civilians have been killed over the past seven days. DRIVING THE DAY THE WAR PRESIDENT: Donald Trump will be back in the Situation Room with his top intelligence officials this morning as expectation grows of an imminent U.S. strike on Iran. As Playbook told you yesterday, the president is leaning firmly toward military action to take out Iran's nuclear facilities — but insists he won't make a final call until the very last moment. In the meantime, America continues to build up military firepower within striking distance of Iran … while Europe launches a last-minute diplomatic bid to avert war. Quote of the day: 'I have ideas as to what to do,' Trump said during an impromptu Oval Office press huddle yesterday afternoon. 'I like to make a final decision one second before it's due.' He's not kidding: It's worth recalling how, in 2019, Trump was minutes away from ordering airstrikes against Iran before pulling the plug at the final moment, with the planes literally in the sky. (The NYT reported at the time that Trump 'liked the 'command' of approving the strike, but also the decisiveness of calling it off.') And while today's situation is too serious for TACO jokes, it's worth remembering too what we've learned from Trump's on/off tariff moves — that this president likes to build up extreme leverage before suddenly moving to cut a deal. But let's be clear: That is definitely not the signal coming out of the administration this morning, as multiple outlets are now reporting. WSJ's Alex Ward and colleagues say Trump has approved final attack plans on Iran, but has yet to give the final green light. ABC's Mary Bruce and colleagues confirmed the story and say Trump is 'getting comfortable' with the idea of a targeted strike. Bloomberg's Stephanie Lai and colleagues have got wind of 'potential plans' for an attack this coming weekend. 'The next week is going to be very big,' Trump said yesterday. 'Maybe less than a week.' SCOOP: And now read this: A senior White House official has given my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns a glimpse inside the president's thinking, as he mulls perhaps the most momentous decision of his presidency. This well-placed person says Trump is very conscious of the moment he finds himself in. 'He's in his last term of his presidency,' the official said. 'He may or may not see a window to do something that is something he's always believed is right and is important for the world, and has the added benefit of being legacy-building. And this is a window. It's never existed before. It will likely never exist again insofar as he can do anything about it. So while he has that window, he's going to take a shot, even if it is not something that everybody agrees with.' Nuclear fallout: It's certainly true that attacking Iran is not something that everybody agrees with — a snap WaPo poll last night found 45 percent of Americans are against military strikes, vs. 25 percent in support. Most importantly for Trump, the issue continues to cleave his supporters down the middle, as this viral diatribe from Candace Owens neatly illustrates. It was striking, too, to see Theo Von — who famously interviewed Trump last year on what is the fourth-biggest podcast in the U.S., per Spotify — come out against military action yesterday. Here's the clip But but but: Trump remains unfazed, the senior official quoted above tells Dasha, and confident his supporters will back him to the hilt. 'He's always aware [of the criticism],' the person said. 'He'll bring people along … Some people are trying to shape the discourse a little bit, but he's the primary shaper of discourse at the macro level, and perhaps the micro too.' And there's also this: 'People say we've got to keep the coalition together,' the official added. 'Well, if you're Donald Trump, who, in your heart, knows you're not running again — do you? Or do you just have to do what's right? He is primarily focused on doing what he thinks is right for the country, and what he always wanted to do for the country.' Who Trump listens to: WaPo's Warren Strobel and colleagues have confirmed POLITICO's Tuesday night scoop that DNI Tulsi Gabbard is on the outs — and added a must-read extra layer of juice: They say Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also being frozen out of key decisions. They cite two current U.S. officials who say U.S. Central Command chief Erik Kurilla — profiled by POLITICO yesterday — and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine 'have taken the lead on discussing military options with Trump, largely sidestepping Hegseth and his team at the Pentagon.' Ouch. Brutal quote: 'Nobody is talking to Hegseth,' one official tells WaPo. 'There is no interface operationally between Hegseth and the White House at all.' Naturally, Hegseth's team is pushing back hard. Speaking of the military: One of the (many) remarkable things about 2025 is the ability to watch America's military build-up in the Middle East in real time. The most fearsome air force in the world is currently being tracked by a bunch of online enthusiasts as it traverses the globe — and then filmed whenever it stops to refuel. Your Playbook author got mildly hypnotized last night by some British planespotter's popular livestream of USA F-22 Raptors arriving to refuel in the U.K., en route to the Middle East. (You can watch them coming in to land around 20 minutes in, if you're so inclined.) But there's been no sighting yet … Of those all-important B-2s, the stealth bombers capable of carrying bunker-busting bombs. Axios' Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo report that Trump has specifically asked his military advisers whether these weapons are genuinely capable of destroying Iran's flagship nuclear facility, which is buried under a mountainside at Fordo. 'Pentagon officials told Trump they're confident,' Axios reports. 'But it's not clear Trump was totally convinced.' Might he yet hold back? Plan B: Axios reckons the Israelis told the Trump administration that while they may not be able to reach deep enough into the mountain to blow up Fordo with bombs, they could potentially 'do it with humans' … which is all getting a little bit James Bond. Meanwhile in Europe: A frantic last-ditch diplomacy effort is underway to offer the Iranians a way out. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. It says the talks 'are taking place in coordination with the United States' … If there is to be an alternative route out of this crisis, this just might be it. And elsewhere in the world … Other brutal wars continue to play out, while attention is fixed on Iran. Which is fortunate for guys like Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was meant to be under pressure to agree a ceasefire but instead has ramped up nightly attacks on residential apartment blocks across Ukraine. (Just watch this video, via the Kyiv Independent.) And it's fortunate too for Netanyahu, with nobody now paying much attention to his latest incursion into Gaza — where the United Nations yesterday warned of the 'senseless killings' of starving Palestinians as they queue for food. Reuters reports at least 140 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in the past 24 hours. AND NOW … TO POLITICS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Megapoll klaxon: A new 8,000-person megapoll shared with Playbook offers important lessons for both parties ahead of next year's midterms. The new MRP [Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification] poll by Stack Data Strategy has the Democrats on course to win a narrow majority in the House next year — and puts Trump underwater in his handling of the economy. So far, so predictable. But but but: In the underlying data, there are significant crumbs of comfort for the GOP that suggest Trump could yet bring swing voters around ahead of November 2026. On his handling of the economy, Trump's numbers remain far worse than during his first term, with 35 percent approving vs. 41 percent disapproving. There's no sugar-coating that. But when asked about Trump's assertion that the short-term turbulence will be 'worth it in the long-run,' 42 percent of voters agreed vs. 37 percent who disagreed. And this was true across the vast majority of marginal House districts. So swing voters could be more open to Trump's economic messaging than Dems perceive … if the economy picks up. And there's more: The poll also highlights a small but significant portion of registered Democrats who are drawn to Trump's economic nationalism. An eye-catching 22 percent of Dems said the president's handling of the economy makes them more likely to support the Republican candidate in their district in the midterms — despite the chaos of the past three months. (Caveat: There will of course be real-world economic data between now and November 2026 that shifts these numbers either way.) Trump card: There was even greater Democratic (and independent) support for Trump's approach to immigration, suggesting opposition attacks on his controversial deportations are not widely resonating. In total, 49 percent of voters approved of the administration's handling of immigration, vs. 33 percent who disapproved. Strikingly, a quarter of all Kamala Harris 2024 voters approved of the president's immigration policy. That's quite a number. (Another caveat: This poll was in the field for almost three weeks, but ended just before the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles that provoked Trump to send in the National Guard. It's untested how those events affected voters' views.) BILL WATCH: Stack's findings on the 'big, beautiful bill' also contained more positive snippets for the GOP than several smaller polls published this week — including this bleak offering yesterday from Fox News — which all found broad disapproval for the legislation. Stack polled the bill's individual measures using what the firm believes to be neutral language and found net support for most of the bill's individual measures. The 2026 messaging war: Cuts to Medicaid remain the most-divisive aspect, splitting largely down party lines — although Americans do appear open to the idea of Medicaid reform. When asked about new restrictions on Medicaid, including work requirements, 42 percent of voters were supportive vs. 32 percent opposed. It's worth noting previous polls have found strong public opposition to what Dems say will be the real-world impacts of cuts, such as less funding for hospitals or care being stripped from the needy, which suggests the messaging war over Medicaid — i.e. which party can best define these cuts — could be an important theme in 2026. Let's not get carried away: Trump's numbers on the economy are still bad. The Dems should still be anyone's favorites to win back the House — if not the Senate — next year. But the underlying data suggests voters' views are less cut and dry than basic poll questions sometimes suggest. And of course, there's still a long way to go. NEWS FROM THE WILDERNESS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Chair in the hot seat: Less than five months into his time as head of the DNC, Ken Martin's tenure as chair is 'engulfed by bitter infighting,' with DNC members describing him as 'weak and whiny' and calling his leadership 'disappointing,' POLITICO's Holly Otterbein and Elena Schneider report this morning. There's the messaging problem: 'We're in the most serious existential crisis with Donald Trump both at home and abroad — and with the biggest political opportunity in a decade,' says former Obama-era White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. 'And the DNC has spent six months on a firing squad in the circle, and can't even fire a shot out. And Trump's world is a target-rich environment.' There's the organizational problem: Martin's DNC has seen two major labor leaders — AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME President Lee Saunders — quit their posts with the committee, a major controversy erupt over now-ousted Vice Chair David Hogg's pledge to primary 'ineffective' Dems, and a swell of infighting after Martin purged more than a dozen officials from the DNC's influential rules and bylaws committee. And then there's the money problem: The cash crunch is so bad that DNC leaders are considering borrowing money to pay the committee's bills, NYT's Shane Goldmacher and Reid Epstein report. Major donors have been reluctant to give under Martin's tenure, a hesitance that has deepened as Martin 'has still not spoken with' a number of them. From January through April, the party's 'total cash reserves shrank by $4 million.' Meanwhile, the RNC's 'coffers swelled by roughly $29 million.' For his part … Martin acknowledged to the Times that his efforts to rebuild the party had been 'overshadowed by some of this inside baseball stuff,' and attributed some of the grumbling about his leadership to sour grapes. 'I know there's a lot of people that are carrying grudges, that are still litigating the campaign that their person didn't win,' he said. 'I am not one of those people.' BEST OF THE REST TODAY'S BUZZIEST READ: The NYT is out with a 3,500-word profile on one half of what used to be the ultimate White House power couple — Katie and Stephen Miller. She was operating as Elon Musk's spokeswoman; he was (and remains) the driving force behind Trump's hard-line immigration policy. 'Now, Mr. Musk is gone — or out of Washington, anyway,' NYT's Matt Flegenheimer writes. 'And life in the home of Katie and Stephen Miller has gotten complicated.' I'll bet it has. Knowing Katie Miller: 'A relentless operator often publicly defined by her relationships to others but long determined to leave her own mark on the capital, Ms. Miller finds herself buffeted by the flammable men who had empowered her in the first place,' Flegenheimer writes. 'Many who know Ms. Miller have described her as more of a chameleonic aide than a consistent ideologue in the Stephen Miller mold — the sort of figure most comfortable speaking with the cover of someone else's voice.' SPEAKING OF MUSK: He was back on political X last night with a choice barb for White House personnel chief Sergio Gor — reportedly the guy who got Musk's pick for NASA chief, Jared Isaacman, nixed at the eleventh hour, triggering the final Musk/Trump breakup. 'He's a snake,' Musk complained to his 220 million followers. Musk is also still producing negative drug tests, for those who are interested. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: White House chief of staff Susie Wiles made it clear to Senate Republicans yesterday: The administration is adamant about passing the GOP megabill by July 4 — even as many lawmakers 'cast doubt on whether it will be possible to move that fast,' POLITICO's Jordain Carney reports. Majority Leader John Thune is still eyeing the middle of next week for an initial procedural vote on the measure. Speaker Mike Johnson has already signaled he might cancel the House's planned recess ahead of the July Fourth holiday. The prickly problems: As senators hammer out the details of their version of the bill, a group of so-called Medicaid moderates — including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — are working with Thune and others to broker a compromise on proposed Medicaid changes they fear would devastate rural hospitals, Jordain and Robert King report. But that, of course, could complicate the House math. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Endorsement watch: The Congressional Black Caucus PAC — which operates with the goal of increasing the number of Black members in Congress — is jumping into the race to replace retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, endorsing Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), POLITICO's Shia Kapos writes in. Kelly is locked in a crowded race for the seat along with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). TRIGGER HAPPY: As the Trump administration works to shrink down the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the DOJ announced yesterday it will eliminate 541 of the estimated 800 inspectors who monitor federally licensed gun dealers and ensure regulations are followed, NYT's Glenn Thrush reports. 'A.T.F. officials, law enforcement groups and gun control activists see such routine monitoring as a fundamental safeguard against abuses that have led some retail outlets to become sources for criminals and straw purchasers paid to buy guns.' TALK OF THE TOWN JD Vance joined — and was quickly booted from — Bluesky, apparently just to troll the libs. Good times. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED on Tuesday night at EU Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė's residence for the EU Alumni Reunion 2025 with a concert by Wicked Game: Halimah Najieb-Locke, Everett Eissenstat, Shiyana Gunasekara, Irene Mingasson, Adriana Brassart, Christina Sevilla, Steve Rochlin, Jack Doll and Michael Mucchetti. — SPOTTED at Consumer Bankers Association's media happy hour last night: Lindsey Johnson, Billy Rielly, Weston Loyd, Molly Meiners, Stephanie Nye, Eileen Kelly, Katy O'Donnell, Evan Weinberger, Claire Williams, Stephanie Dhue, Karen James Sloan, Ian McKendry, Evan Lapiska, Jeff Naft, Brooke Nethercott, Flo Scott, Rachel Stephens, Brendan Pedersen, Rob Sumner, Lauren Williams, Danielle Smotkin and Ali Hattamer. MEDIA MOVES — Bloomberg is adding Liam Knox as an education reporter and Katy O'Donnell as a housing reporter. Knox currently is a reporter at Inside Higher Ed. O'Donnell currently is a senior reporter at POLITICO covering financial services. TRANSITIONS — Nick Alexander is now a legislative assistant for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). He previously was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). … Jacob Downs is now press secretary for Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.). He most recently was press assistant for Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) … Reuters' Jeff Mason … Anne Gearan … Alex Kisling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies … Marcus Brauchli … Aimee Strudwick Gilroy … Axios' Alex Isenstadt … POLITICO's Laura Maggi … Michael Akin … Christina Ruffini … CyberScoop's Tim Starks … David Di Martino … Patrick Rooney … Ben Castagnetti of Sen. Maria Cantwell's (D-Wash.) office … Hodan Omaar … Mary Dalrymple of Eagle Hill Consulting … Mike Naple … former Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) … former SEC Chair Mary Schapiro (7-0) … Michael Robbins … Melissa Cooke … Zac Rutherford of Rep. Diana Harshbarger's (R-Tenn.) office … Michelle Ringuette … Actum's Alexander Rauda … Jennifer Hazelton … Emily Hoffman… Julia Palomino-Causey and Daniel Causey … Mary Carpenter of the Nuclear Energy Institute … Treasury's Rebecca Karabus … Tate Mitchell of Sen. Tim Sheehy's (R-Mont.) office Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Trump Is Still Moaning About Weather Forecasters After Flop Parade
President Donald Trump has once again rebuked weather forecasters for predicting rain on his birthday military parade, raising the issue at the G7 Leaders' Summit in Canada. During a photo opportunity with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife, Trump brought up the parade forecast. 'We had the parade the other day. They said 100 percent chance of rain. It didn't rain,' Trump told Carney as the Canadian prime minister smiled politely. Saturday's parade—expected to cost up to $45 million, according to conservative estimates—was meant to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army, but it also coincided with Trump's 79th birthday, sparking criticism that the president was hijacking the event. In the leadup to the parade, the National Weather Service had predicted rain—and possibly thunderstorms—in Washington, D.C., just as the tanks and troops rolled in. However, in the end, there was only a slight drizzle, summer mugginess, and, according to some attendees, low energy. The G7 summit was not the first time Trump railed against the parade's weather forecast, which limited turnout. On his way to Canada on Sunday, he described the night as 'a tremendous success with a fantastic audience,' adding, 'It was supposed to rain. They gave it a 100% chance of rain, and it didn't rain at all. It was beautiful.' While the administration has been at pains to portray the event as a 'tremendous success,' footage showed sparse crowds, with the overall size far fewer than the 'No Kings' protests that also took place across the country that day. At one point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was caught on camera yawning and looking bored as he sat in the viewing stand near the president, with one arm casually draped over a chair. Social media also lit up with photos of First Lady Melania Trump resting her eyes at various intervals, while Trump's eldest and favorite daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were no-shows. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also talked up the event, only to be ridiculed on social media for seemingly inflating the crowd size. 'Amazing. Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the @USArmy,' Cheung posted to X on Saturday night. 'God Bless the USA!' By comparison, data journalist G. Elliot Morris estimated that 4 million to 6 million people joined the nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration, making it one of the largest protests in U.S. history. Trump had long dreamed of holding a parade showcasing America's military might, and this one featured a steady stream of Abrams battle tanks, a fleet of armored Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, as well as Black Hawk, Apache, and Chinook helicopters. Cleanup crews have spent the past few days returning the nation's capital to normalcy, but Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it may take another few days for the city to assess road damage. 'We will evaluate with the utility companies any issues that we are aware of,' she said. 'If we have to make any repairs, we would submit that as part of the reimbursement process for national security events.' She added that she had watched the parade after a day at Chuck E. Cheese celebrating a child's birthday party and was thrilled to see the Army Golden Knights parachute team display the D.C. flag as they parachuted down. 'I was very happy,' said the Democratic mayor, who has gone out of her way to stay on Trump's good side this year. 'I thought it was a nice touch.'
