Officials in the U.S are feeling anxious about “a potential Tiananmen Square moment” at Saturday’s military parade in Washington, D.C., which coincides with “No Kings” protests throughout the nation.
The parade will celebrate the 250th Army anniversary as well as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, per Mediaite.
The president has said the parade, with a price tag of around $45 million, will be “like no other.” The parade will have over 7,000 troops, tanks and fighter jet flyovers. The price tag includes millions in street repairs from the heavy armor.
The Daily podcast by the New York Times talked about the anxiety officials are feeling in light of the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles where Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines.
“There’s a very real possibility of the president now presiding over this parade Saturday night, showcasing the U.S. military’s most fearsome weapons and most fearsome soldiers,” host Michael Barbaro said. “And the message in that context, in the context of what’s going on in LA, may feel more intended or as intended for a domestic audience than as impressing or intimidating our foreign adversaries.”
Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper replied, saying, “They’re very worried about that, and especially in the former uniform world where these are retired army officials, retired Marine generals, I’ve been on the phone with. They’re really worried about this image.”
“They are also worried about a potential Tiananmen Square moment where you have a protester standing in front of a tank. That is not what America is supposed to look like,” Cooper added. “And this is another one of those potential scary things that we could see on Saturday.”
“That’s a very potent image,” Barbaro said.
“It is,” Cooper responded. “But you know, at the end of the day, it all may depend on where you sit.”
She said supporters of the president “see the protests in LA as thugs wrecking property” and may be “perfectly fine with deploying federal troops there.” She added that MAGA supporters might, then, “sit back and enjoy the image of the military.”
She also warned, there are “people who have been intimidated by this administration.”
“The biggest problem with this, according to the military leaders… is this risks bringing the military into the middle of partisan politics. You want an American military that all Americans feel is part of them. You do not want a military that is a Trump military or MAGA military, or democratic military or Biden military. You want a military that American people feel is a non-political institution,” she added.
