Critics see politics in Trump’s plans
WASHINGTON» President Donald Trump marshaled tanks, bombers and other machinery of war on Tuesday for a Fourth of July celebration that traditionally is light on military might, while critics accused him of using America’s military as a political prop.
Under White House direction, the Pentagon was scrambling to arrange for an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber and other warplanes to conduct flyovers of the celebration on the National Mall. There will be Navy F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, the Navy Blue Angels aerial acrobatics team, Army and Coast Guard helicopters and Marine V-22 Ospreys.
A small number of 60-ton Army Abrams battle tanks were sent to Washington by rail to be positioned on or near the Mall, although the District of Columbia government fired back with its own verbal salvo.
“Tanks, but no tanks,” it tweeted, adding that the Pentagon itself said last year that a tank’s steel tracks could damage city roadways. Also scheduled to make appearances over the Mall are the presidential Air Force One and Marine One aircraft.
The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with President Donald Trump’s Independence Day celebration Thursday on the National Mall, two individuals familiar with the arrangement told The Washington Post.
Trump, casting the extravaganza as a “Salute to America,” tweeted Tuesday that military leaders are “thrilled” to participate. If so, they were hiding it well. Pentagon officials referred questions to the White House. Military officials would not say on the record whether Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans to attend.
“Military Leaders are thrilled to be doing this & showing to the American people, among other things, the strongest and most advanced Military anywhere in the World,” Trump tweeted. “Incredible Flyovers & biggest ever Fireworks!”
“This is raw politicization,” countered Loren Dejonge Schulman, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a Pentagon and White House official during the Obama administration. She said in an email exchange that Trump’s use of the military appears to be less about honoring the men and women serving in uniform than about trying to “brag to and humor” his political cronies.
Rep. Betty McCollum complained: “Mr. Trump is hijacking the celebration and twisting it into a taxpayer-funded, partisan political rally that’s more about promoting a Trumpian cult of personality than the spirit of American independence and freedom.” The Minnesota Democrat, who chairs the Interior Appropriations subcommittee, said the Interior Department and the Pentagon have not answered multiple requests for details on how much the event will cost.
White House officials stressed that Trump would deliver a patriotic speech at the Lincoln Memorial during an event that he has billed as honoring the U.S. armed forces.
But the administration undercut its own assertion of it being a nonpolitical event when senior presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway said the speech will highlight “the success of this administration in opening up so many jobs for individuals, what we’ve done for veterans,” in addition to celebrating democracy, patriotism and the military.