Latest news with #militaryparade
The Standard
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Standard
China downplayed nuclear-capable missile test: classified NZ govt papers
Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles travel past Tiananmen Gate to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing, China, September 3, 2015. (Reuters/File)
Washington Post
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
It's time for sports to take a stand against Trump's excesses
Several hours before President Trump's vainglorious military parade, officially called the 250th Army Birthday Parade and Festival — paid for in part by the NFL — rolled past the National Mall last Saturday, a protest against what many of us see as the diminution of the Constitution was underway a few miles away at Logan Circle. And just as I visited there, Jim Keady was introduced.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans Reveal Their Excuses to be Anywhere But Trump's Birthday Parade
President Donald Trump has been hyping his military parade ahead of tanks rolling through Washington, D.C. on Saturday, but many Republican lawmakers are not sticking around. The parade is billed as a celebration of the Army's 250th anniversary, but it also happens to fall on the president's 79th birthday. The Daily Beast reached out to dozens of GOP lawmakers to see who would be in attendance, and few signaled they would show up despite Trump touting an 'incredible' display. Senators are mostly heading home to their states for the weekend. Few offered up reasons why they would not be sticking in the nation's capital, but for some, it is work-related, while others had personal obligations. Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan was traveling for a funeral. Senator Pete Ricketts was heading back to Nebraska, where the College World Series is starting this weekend in Omaha, while Senator Roger Wicker will be heading to the Paris Air Show. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is running for governor and told reporters he would be back in his home state campaigning. Senator Markwayne Mullin is a close ally of Trump, but he is celebrating his wedding anniversary this weekend. That meant heading back to Oklahoma to be with his wife and children. Among Senate leadership, neither Senate Majority Leader John Thune nor Whip John Barrasso plans to make an appearance. Leading up to the extravaganza, several GOP senators even questioned whether the parade, which could cost as much as $45 million according to the army, should take place at all. 'The United States of America is the most powerful country in all of human history. We're a lion, and a lion doesn't have to tell you it's a lion,' said Louisiana Senator John Kennedy. 'I would save the money, but if the president wants to have a parade, he's the president, and I'm not.' Senator Rand Paul said he has 'never been a fan of goose-stepping soldiers in big tanks and missiles rolling down the street' and likened the expected imagery to the Soviet Union and North Korea. One senator who will be in attendance is Senator Roger Marshall. His office said he would be welcoming troops in Washington, D.C., from Fort Riley in Kansas. On the House side, excitement was also lacking. Politico surveyed 50 Republican lawmakers and found only seven said they would attend. Among those who would be appearing are MAGA favorite Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. 'The Congresswoman was invited by the President to attend the parade honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States Army and, as a Nationalist, she is honored to attend,' her office told the Daily Beast in a statement. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not be at the parade because of family business. He told reporters he was moving from his family home and downsizing, so he had to 'go do that unfortunately.' GOP lawmakers heading out of town could be avoiding some nasty weather. The forecast in Washington on Saturday indicates a 65 percent chance of rain, including thunderstorms. But the president indicated Thursday evening that he won't let anything rain on his parade. 'I hope the weather's okay, but actually if it's not, that brings you good luck,' Trump said. 'That's ok too, doesn't matter. It doesn't affect the tanks at all. It doesn't affect the soldiers. They're used to it. They're tough.'
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nicolle Wallace Unloads on Trump's ‘Perverted' Military Parade
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace called out Donald Trump for 'gleefully and brazenly using troops as pawns' ahead of the big big military parade that will mark his 79th birthday Saturday, Wallace, guest-hosting Pod Save America with former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau on Friday, discussed 'the North Korean-style birthday party' Trump has 'wanted for years.' 'This is so perverted from what's normal,' Wallace said of Trump's usurping the Army's 250th birthday for his own celebration. As Trump's team reportedly screened the military members in the audience for allegiance and physical appearance ahead of his Fort Bragg speech Tuesday, Wallace wondered aloud, 'Who else is being vetted? Who else is being staged? Who else is being pushed out of the picture for being fat? I mean, what else is really happening there?' Trump's military parade is expected to take place Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The president's birthday celebration will cost taxpayers an estimated $45 million, but Wallace said Trump's 'perversion' of the non-partisan military will cost Americans more than just tax dollars long-term. 'I think that we probably only see the tip of the iceberg,' she said. The Fort Bragg speech, which served as a 'pre-celebration' of sorts for the president, featured men and women in uniform booing Democrats. Wallace, a former communications director for George W. Bush, reflected on the traditional separation of politics from the U.S. military. 'You and I both wrote speeches for presidents that were delivered in front of troops,' she said. 'You're cognizant that the applause lines don't have anything to do with your president's policies because you don't want them to look like they have to applaud a policymaker.' 'You craft the speeches so that there's only an applause when you're celebrating the men and women of the military, either their current courage or their historic greatness,' she continued. For Trump to have encouraged and cherry-picked uniformed military members into a divisive display of loyalty to one side is troubling, Wallace said, but not surprising. 'To see this event at Fort Bragg and to see the way they are gleefully and brazenly using troops as pawns—the greatest victim of that is the troops, is the military,' she said. 'And I think it's actually shocking that the Republican senators are complicit.' Wallace went on to express little hope that any Republican lawmakers will speak out. 'Where are the people who are still willing to sort of put their body between brazen partisanship and the military?' she asked. 'In the Republican Party, there aren't any.' 'Even the former generals are afraid to speak out, or restrained from speaking out,' Wallace said, but she maintained that she will not be keeping quiet. 'I'm not not scared. I just don't think it makes me safer to be quiet,' she explained. 'I feel that way as a cable host. I'm not not concerned that they're not looking for anyone in the media to make a mistake and then come after the media. I just don't think you're in a safer posture in a defensive crouch.'
Washington Post
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Celebrating our military should be a truly bipartisan cause
What lies at the heart of overreactions to President Donald Trump is false attribution and misdirected, distasteful disdain. The response to this past weekend's military parade is a perfect example of how assumptions lead some people on the left to miss the forest for the nonexistent fires. Rather than accept the stated reason for the parade, critics assumed these events were all about Trump's ego because they happened to take place on his birthday, which also happened to be on Flag Day. As an attendee of the parade, I did not hear Trump's name mentioned even once by the hundreds of MAGA faithful with whom I interacted or overheard.
