Pentagon may delay military parade a year

The parade, sought by President Trump, was slated for November, but is likely to be pushed back to 2019 amid questions over costs .

The Trump administration may delay a military parade slated for this fall, the Pentagon said Thursday, amid questions about the event’s increasing cost.

Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that the parade, which President Donald Trump ordered earlier this year as a tribute to American military might, could take place next year.

“The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I,” Manning said. “We originally targeted November 10, 2018, for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”

Manning 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 originally estimated.

Officials have been planning the event since earlier this year, when the president, apparently inspired by a similar display he observed last year in France, discussed the parade in a meeting with senior officials at the Pentagon.

Such large parades have been rare in recent U.S. history, though the George H.W. Bush administration staged a military parade in Washington in 1991 after the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War.

Earlier this year, a senior official said the parade would probably cost between $10 million and $30 million. Some share of the higher cost of close to $100 million is expected to be paid by other government agencies that would take part in organizing or securing the event.

Planning for the parade comes at a time when Trump has said the U.S. would save money by suspending joint military exercises with South Korea, part of his outreach to North Korea. The affected exercise would have cost about $14 million, far less than the parade’s current expected cost.

The American Legion, a veterans organization, said earlier Thursday that while it appreciated that Trump wanted to show support for U.S. troops, other priorities should win out.

“However, until such time as we can celebrate victory in the war on terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible,” the group’s national commander, Denise Rohan, said in a statement.