President Trump really, really wants tanks to roll up at his Fourth of July celebration.
So much so that he's risking the destruction of Washington, D.C.'s infrastructure just to bring them to the city. Despite concerns over the health of the capital's roads, bridges, and monuments, at least two tanks and other military vehicles have already arrived at a train station at the edge of D.C., The Associated Press reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The tanks' location is particularly relevant given that Arlington Memorial Bridge, which links the Lincoln Memorial with Arlington National Cemetery, may not be able to support their weight, The New York Times reports. Engineers are also reportedly mapping out whether the heavy vehicles will damage underground rooms at the Lincoln Memorial, where Trump told reporters tanks would be "stationed outside," per The Washington Post.
Even if the tanks stay off the Arlington bridge, they're still likely to tear up D.C.'s roads as they head to the National Mall. Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich has decided this isn't a problem, telling the Times that "other than the fact they have to pay to fix the streets, who cares?"
-
Political cartoons for November 9Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include a ripoff, and the land of opportunity
-
A ‘golden age’ of nuclear powerThe Explainer The government is promising to ‘fire up nuclear power’. Why, and how?
-
Massacre in Darfur: the world looked the other wayTalking Point Atrocities in El Fasher follow decades of repression of Sudan’s black African population
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
