On the heels of this week’s updated price tag of $92 million – which is a staggering $80 million more than initial estimates – for Trump’s wholly unnecessary and unwanted military parade, the Pentagon has announced that it is being postponed until 2019.
BREAKING: Pentagon says military parade proposed for Veterans Day delayed at least until 2019.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 17, 2018
The event was originally scheduled for Veterans Day this year with an estimated price tag of $12 billion. Even at that inaccurate assessment, at a time when Americans’ health insurance coverage is declining, wages are stagnant, and income inequality is skyrocketing, the idea of a military parade was not only wasteful but offensive.
Today, however, Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said the military and the White House “have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”
It’s clear that the ballooning price tag and accompanying public outcry was to blame – or thank – for the abrupt cancellation. Americans on both sides of the aisle were decidedly vocal in their denunciation of the event, calling it “boastful,” “unnecessary,” and “un-American.”
Trump initially got the idea after attending France’s Bastille Day celebration. France, however, has held the event since 1880. Other countries of note with military parades include North Korea, China and Russia—not exactly the world’s most shining beacons of democracy.
While Trump’s insatiable ego and boundless narcissism may be a sight to behold, his military parade – for now – won’t be.
