Trump planning military parade

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed forces.

Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon’s tank - a room reserved for top secret discussions - marked a tipping point, according to two offi- cials briefed on the planning.

Surrounded by the military’s highest ranking officials, including Defense Sec- retary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, Trump’s seemingly abstract desire for a parade was heard as a presidential directive, the officials said.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discus- sions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”

American shows of military strength don’t come cheap. The cost of shipping Abrams tanks and high-tech hardware to Washington could run in the millions, and military offi- cials said it was unclear how they would pay for it.