President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had canceled plans for a Veterans Day military parade, citing the “ridiculously high” price tag a day after U.S. officials said the November event could cost $92 million, more than three times the price first suggested by the White House.
Mr. Trump on Twitter accused local Washington, D.C., politicians of price-gouging. But preliminary estimates from the Pentagon showed that roughly $50 million would cover military aircraft, equipment, personnel and other support. The remainder would be borne by other agencies and largely involve security costs.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday shot back on Twitter that she was the one who “finally got thru [through] to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad).”
‘Maybe next year’
The Defense Department had announced on Thursday that there would be no parade in 2018. Mr. Trump tweeted that perhaps something could be scheduled next year when the price “comes WAY DOWN.” He did not explain how the costs would be reduced.
Mr. Trump said he would instead attend an event at Andrews Air Force Base on another day and travel to Paris for the November 11 events marking the centennial of the end of fighting in World War I.
The President added that “Now we can buy some more jet fighters!” He did not offer additional details.
Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said onThursday that the military and the White House had “agreed to explore opportunities in 2019,” an announcement that came several hours after reports about the projected parade price tag.
The Associated Press reported that the parade would cost about $92 million, according to U.S. officials citing preliminary estimates — more than three times the price first suggested by the White House. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss early planning estimates that have not yet been finalised or released publicly.
Officials said the parade plans had not yet been approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Mr. Mattis himself said late on Thursday that he had seen no such estimate and questioned the media reports.
Mr. Mattis, who spoke before the announcement that the parade would not happen in 2018, added — “I’m not dignifying that number ($92 million) with a reply. I would discount that, and anybody who said (that number), I’ll almost guarantee you one thing — They probably said, ‘I need to stay anonymous.’ No kidding, because you look like an idiot. And No. 2, whoever wrote it needs to get better sources. I’ll just leave it at that.”
The parade’s cost has become a politically charged issue, particularly after the Pentagon canceled a major military exercise planned for August with South Korea, in the wake of Mr. Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Mr. Trump said the drills were provocative and that dumping them would save the U.S. “a tremendous amount of money.” The Pentagon later said the Korea drills would have cost $14 million.
