The military parade was planned for November 10, which is the anniversary of the end of World War I. US President Donald Trump requested the parade after he was impressed by one on Bastille Day during his visit to France in July 2017.
The US Defense Department said in a statement on Thursday that a military parade requested by Trump that had been planned in Washington has been postponed until next year.
“The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I,” Pentagon Spokesman Col. Rob Manning said in a press release. “We originally targeted November 10, 2018 for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”
A Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of an assessment done by the Pentagon and its interagency partners told CNBC earlier that the parade was estimated to cost at least $92 million.
The ABC News said in July, citing a US military official familiar with the planning that between 5,000 and 7,000 troops could have marched in November in Washington, DC, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
In addition to troops, the parade would have featured a hundred vehicles, an equal number of horses and 50 aircraft.
During his visit to France in mid-July 2017, President Donald Trump was impressed with the celebrations of Bastille Day, the French National Day, and the 100th anniversary of the entry of US troops onto French soil during World War I. He returned and asked US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to draft some options for holding a similar event in Washington, DC.
In February, anking Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Adam Smith slammed Trump’s plan for a big military parade as an ego-inflating event for the US president himself.
“The military is not President Trump’s personal toy set,” Smith said. “He cannot be allowed to continue focusing on parades and ego-inflating toys instead of real, basic military needs that can jeopardize lives if they are not met.”
Sourse: sputniknews.com
