Trump blames D.C. officials for postponement of military parade

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday blamed local officials for his decision to postpone a grand military parade in Washington this fall, alleging without evidence that they had unreasonably inflated the price.

“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it.”

Trump said it was possible the parade could be staged next year if the cost “comes WAY DOWN” and added that with the savings “we can buy some more jet fighters!”

His tweets came a day after the Pentagon said the planned Nov. 10 parade might be postponed amid questions about the event’s increasing costs.

About an hour after the president’s tweet, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, delivered her own caustic response on Twitter, indicating the desired parade would have cost $21.6 million to organize in the nation’s capital. The federal government typically reimburses the District of Columbia for a large share of the security and logistical costs for such events.

“Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad),” Bowser tweeted.

Bowser said in a later interview that she found the accusation that D.C. officials were trying to exaggerate the city’s security costs galling, especially since the city had been working to plan the event with little lead time.

Although the president has long discussed a potential military parade, it was only on Aug. 8 that Bowser received a letter from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen saying the event would take place “on or about Nov. 10, 2018” and discussing the need for planning and coordination with city agencies.

The White House Office of Management and Budget did not approach D.C. city officials until Tuesday to discuss logistical costs, a Bowser administration official said.

In a statement, a Pentagon spokesman on Thursday provided no reason for the apparent postponement, which came amid a spate of news reports that the event, which is expected to include aircraft, vehicles, period uniforms and symbols of U.S. power, could cost up to $92 million, far more than the original estimate of between $10 million and $30 million.