The Pentagon is reportedly prepared to spend $92 million on Trump's military parade
President Trump's military parade has racked up quite the bill. A defense official told Reuters on Thursday that the event could cost about $92 million.
Trump earlier this year instructed the Pentagon to organize a military parade for Veterans Day, and preliminary estimates pegged the cost around $12 million. That number has quickly risen, as White House budget director Mick Mulvaney first ticked it up to $30 million and internal Pentagon memos fretted about the expense of a "heavy air component at the end of the parade."
The new budget — three times as large as Mulvaney's estimate — hasn't been approved by Defense Secretary James Mattis and could still be changed, notes Reuters. But Mulvaney said that the taxpayer-funded act of patriotism would come from money that Congress has already appropriated. CNBC reports that $40 million will come from the Pentagon, while $42 million will come from other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security.
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Memos from the Pentagon's 50-member party planning committee show that the parade will "include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks," in an effort to "minimize damage to local infrastructure." Other parade features include helicopters, fighter jets, and historical military equipment to be displayed alongside 5,000 troops wearing uniforms that represent the "past, present, and future forces." The parade will march through Washington, D.C., in an attempt to "top" the Bastille Day parade in Paris that inspired Trump in the first place.
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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