Trump wants Pennsylvania Ave. military parade

WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he is looking into staging a display of American military might in a Fourth of July parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

In remarks during a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France at the United Nations, Trump said he got the idea after watching the Bastille Day parade in Paris with Macron in July. During the parade, he could be seen gesticulating and whispering to Macron at the elaborate display of tanks, soldiers on horseback and military jets flying overhead.

“I think we are going to have to start looking at that ourselves,” the president told Macron. “We are actually thinking about Fourth of July, Pennsylvania Avenue, having a really great parade to show our military strength.”

Trump has seemed taken by the idea of a military parade since the early days of his presidency.

His inaugural committee reportedly explored, but rejected, the idea of highlighting military equipment in his inaugural parade. In an interview in January, just days before he took his oath of office, he told a Washington Post reporter that “we’re going to show the people as we build up our military, we’re going to display our military. That military may come marching down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Months later, in an interview with The New York Times, the president called the Bastille Day event “one of the most beautiful parades I have ever seen” and said that “we should do one day down Pennsylvania Ave.”

“I’ve always thought of that,” he said. “I’ve thought of it long before.”

But the president’s comments Monday suggested that he has moved beyond musing about the idea of a display of America’s military power. He said his administration has already begun planning for the event, perhaps as early as next year.

Trump said he has spoken to his chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine, and others about beginning the planning process.