The Trump administration denied a report that it scheduled a military parade for June 14, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and also President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.
A District of Columbia source with knowledge of the plan that's being developed said the parade would stretch 4 miles from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to the White House, the Washington City Paper reported Sunday. The source said local officials were just learning of the plan.
"No military parade has been scheduled," a White House official told Newsmax, which sought clarification on whether a military parade was being planned.
Takis Karantonis, chair of the Arlington County Board, told Newsmax on Monday that the county was contacted by the Secret Service on Friday "regarding the possibility of a military parade to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army, but no further details were offered."
He added, "Neither the Arlington County Police nor Fire Departments have received a formal request from the federal government for assistance with any military parade. At this time, it is not clear to me what the scope of the parade would be, but I would hope the federal government remains sensitive to the pain and concerns of numerous active military and veteran residents, who have lost or might lose their jobs in recent federal decisions, as they reflect on how best to celebrate the Army's anniversary."
Trump reportedly floated the idea of a military parade during his first term in 2017 when he attended a similar event on France's Bastille Day with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump originally wanted the parade on July 4, 2018, then altered the plan for Nov. 10, 2018, a day before the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
But the parade never came to be. Democrats and Republicans pushed back on the idea, saying it was a waste of money. Pentagon officials also argued it would be too expensive, and D.C. leaders complained that heavy military vehicles would damage the roadways. Mayor Muriel Bowser also criticized the parade plan, and Trump ultimately canceled it.
"The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. [poorly] know a windfall when they see it," Trump wrote in two posts on Twitter in August 2018. "When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I canceled it. Never let someone hold you up! I will instead .... attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!"