Donald Trump demanded a ‘victory day’ parade of military vehicles and tanks ‘on Main Street’ and ‘from the Capitol to the White House’ during Pentagon briefing on forces abroad
- President Trump said in 2017 during a Pentagon meeting that he wanted a ‘Victory Day’ parade in Washington
- He said he wanted ‘tanks on Main Street,’ according to a former speech writer for Defense Secretary James Mattis
- The president’s pitch led others in the meeting to ‘shift uncomfortably’
President Donald Trump shared his desire for a military parade on Pennsylvania Avenue complete with tanks and military hardware during an awkward 2017 meeting with his Pentagon chief that was ostensibly about the positioning of U.S. forces around the world, a new insider account reveals.
‘I want a ‘Victory Day,’ Trump told top military officials during a July 2017 meeting after returning from a Bastille Day trip to Paris where French President Emanuel Macron got to show off French fighter jets and military hardware – after entrapping Trump in a long handshake.
‘I want vehicles and tanks on Main Street. On Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the White House. We need spirit!’ Trump said, according James Snodgrass, who served as a speechwriter for former Defense Secretary James Mattis.
President Donald Trump (C) shakes hands with US Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) as he arrives at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on July 20, 2017. Inside the Pentagon, Trump made his case for a military parade with tanks
‘We should blow everybody away with this parade. The French had an amazing parade on Bastille Day with tanks and everything. Why can’t we do that?’ Trump continued.
Snodgrass describes the meeting in his book: Holding the Line: Inside Trump’s Pentagon With Secretary Mattis, which was excerpted in Politico.
Trump would ultimately schedule a military parade in Washington in what he dubbed a ‘Salute to America.’
The president’s pitch led others in the meeting to ‘shift uncomfortably’ and shoot glances at one another, Snodgrass writes, leading them to wonder: ‘Where was this going?’
The Blue Angels (six F-18s) fly overhead as people gather on the National Mall for the ‘Salute to America’ Fourth of July event with US President Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, July 4, 2019
Members of the US military walk by a Bradley Fighting Vehicle as preparations are made for the ‘Salute to America’ Fourth of July event with US President Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, July 3, 2019, which will feature flyovers by the Blue Angels, an airplane used as Air Force One, as well as military demonstrations and a speech by Trump
President Donald Trump (L) and Vice President Mike Pence (3rd L) listen to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (2nd L) as Trump about to greet service members after a meeting at the Pentagon July 20, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia
A Secret Service stuck his head inside the Pentagon door and asked: ”Hey, do you guys need to still be in here?’ according to the account.
Trump had kicked off the meeting by bringing up his infamous handshake with Macron.
‘I just returned from France,’ Trump reportedly said. ‘Did you see President Macron’s handshake? … He wouldn’t let go. He just kept holding on. I spent two hours at Bastille Day. Very impressive.’
Trump ‘scowled’ during remarks by Mattis, who Trump regularly used to hail using his military nickname of ‘Mad Dog.’ In addition to running down the list of ‘chokepoints’ where U.S. forces were dispatched around the world, Mattis mentioned the contributions of U.S. allies.
At one point, Mattis mentioned Japanese contributions to reposition U.S. forces from Okinawa to Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific.
‘Who is paying the rest of the bill for the move to Guam?’ Trump wanted to know. That led the president on a tangent where he complained about ‘criminal’ trade agreements and cost overruns on the U.S.S. Ford air craft carrier.
Former Defense Secretary James Mattis unleashed on Donald Trump at a white-tie gala in New York on Thursday after the President demeaned him as ‘the world’s most overrated general’
Mattis, who would ultimately resign and then face withering, made jokes at the president’s expense days ago when Trump called him ‘overrated.’
‘I’m not just an overrated general. I’m the most overrated general,’ Mattis said. ‘I’m honored to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress.
‘So I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals, and frankly that sounds pretty good to me,’ said Mattis.