President Donald Trump on Saturday will organize an important military parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the army.
The event is expected to take tens of millions of dollars, according to defense officials, and will have thousands of soldiers, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of military planes.
The president, who will celebrate his 79th birthday on Saturday, is scheduled to deliver comments during the parade, which will take place at night in the capital of the nation.
Here is everything you need to know about Saturday’s event.
When is it happening?
The parade is expected to start at 6:30 pm et on Saturday and it is expected that it will last more than an hour, it enters celebrations of the army epochs: the revolutionary war, the civil war, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulfo War, the global war against terror, the modern army and the future.
The parade will take place throughout the National Shopping Center, along Constitution Avenue NW, between streets 15 and 23.
While the parade is the main event of Saturday’s celebration, the Army is organizing a variety of other events that day in the capital of the Nation, including a birthday festival at the National Mall in the morning.
The festival opens at 11 am et and is free for the public. He will present live music, meetings and cracks with former NFL players, rock walls and military demonstrations. The army is invoicing it as a “family” event.
The Festival will include a Fitness competition of the army in the morning with 14 teams competing for victory.
Trump will also deliver comments later at night. His speech will touch the “significant achievements” of the army and the “lasting legacy.”
After the parade concludes, says the army, the event will conclude with a concert and fireworks.
Who is organizing it?
The parade is being organized by America250, a bipartisan initiative created by Congress after the approval of the Law of the Semi -Nial Commission of the United States of 2016.
The members of the Commission of América250 include secretaries and legislators of the Cabinet, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of State Framework Rubio, the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Rw.va.; Lisa Murkowksi, R-Alaaska; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Jeanne Shaheen, Dn.H.
Trump signed an executive order in January that added several administration officials to the group that worked with America250. The executive order also made Trump president of the White House Task Force and vice president JD Vance, the vice president.
What is in the parade?
According to defense officials, around 6,600 soldiers will march in the parade, plus 50 military aircraft and 150 vehicles. It is also expected that almost three dozen horses and two mules march in a section of the parade dedicated to the history of the army. The soldiers will wear costumes and carry representative armament of each period.
The parade will also include an extensive aerial show and an elevated step, with helicopters, historical airplanes and a manifestation of the Golden Knights parachute team of the army.
The team and military vehicles arrived near the capital of the nation earlier this week. In Jessup, Maryland, where some teams were downloaded on Monday, Colonel Kamil Sztalkoper, director of Public Affairs of the Army Army of the US Army. UU., Told journalists that the team was delivered by train, with “fifty -one in general.”
How can people see it?
The public members can attend the event and can see the National Mall parade, even on the screens that will be established near the Washington monument. The president and other notable guests will sit and see the parade from an observation box built in Constitución Avenue between 15th Street and 17th Street.
The main transmission networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC, will cover the parade in their respective transmission channels. NBC News will now start charging the parade on Saturday night.
How much will it cost?
The parade is expected to cost the military up to $ 45 million, with up to $ 16 million of that cost that represents the price of the repair of the streets of Washington damaged by the tanks.
In an interview with “Meet The Press” by NBC News in May, Trump defended the cost of the parade, saying that the millions of dollars were “peanut compared to the value of doing so.”
“We have the best missiles in the world. We have the best submarines in the world. We have the best tanks of the world’s army. We have the best weapons in the world. And we will celebrate it,” he added.
In the same interview, Trump played that the parade was a birthday celebration for its 79th.
“My birthday is Flag Day,” he said. “I see it for the day of the flag, not necessarily my birthday. Someone gathered it. But no, I think we are going to do something on June 14, maybe or somewhere there. But I think that June 14. It is a very important day.”
Are the protests expected?
In Washington and in the 50 states, prodemocratic, labor and liberal activists are planning protests that will coincide with the military parade.
Several progressive groups are joining forces to organize a series of “non -kings” protests throughout the country, with more than 1,500 expected demonstrations on Saturday. But the organizers decided against a Washington, protest, instead of celebrating the flagship event in Philadelphia.
The Women’s March group is organizing demonstrations of “kicking the clowns” in several cities.
In Washington, several groups will organize events throughout the day, including the fascism of rejection of the group, which will organize a “non -violent march” before the parade, and the free DC project, which plans to organize a “Joy DC Day” day. The last group is not invoicing the event as a counterprotest, but a community day that will serve as counterprogramming for Trump’s parade.
The planned manifestations arrive a week after the protests in Los Angeles broke out against the immigration rates of the administration. The clashes between the protesters and the police led Trump to deploy thousands of members of the National Guard, and later hundreds of Marines, in response.
Trump’s decision to send the military to suffocate protesters, that California officials demanded to block, caused more protests throughout the country.
On Tuesday, Trump warned protesters who do not interrupt the military celebration, saying that they would meet the “heavy force.”
“If there is any protester who wants to leave, they will meet great force,” Trump told journalists in the Oval office. “I have not even heard of a protest, but you know, these are people who hate our country, but they will find a very heavy force.”
When asked on Wednesday if Trump would support the peaceful protests in the area, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said: “Of course, the president supports peaceful protests. What stupid question.”
How will it affect those who live and travel to Washington?
The Washingtonians will have to navigate several days of road closures near the route of the parade, which will be along Constitution Avenue, on the north side of the National Shopping Center, according to the Department of Metropolitan Police. Dozens of streets will also have valid non -staring emergency measures.
On Saturday, the Metro will continue to run in the capital of the nation, with only one entrance to a station, the entrance/departure of the Northwest for the Smithsonian subway, which is expected to close, according to the army.
Due to the expected high steps during the parade, the Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, which serves travelers to the Washington area, will prevent flights from taking off and terrich, a movement that could affect more than 100 incoming and outgoing flights.
