Trump Parade Rolls Through DC

President Trump's display of US military strength held on his 79th birthday—an Army parade featuring tanks, troops, a 21-gun salute, and Jan. 6 rioters—kicked off in Washington on Saturday evening, a half-hour early in an attempt to beat the rain. The Golden Knights, originally scheduled to be the final act for the Army's 250th birthday party, parachuted onto the National Mall as the parade began, drawing applause. The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" played "The Army Goes Rolling Along" as it marched past the reviewing stand where President Trump and first lady Melania Trump watched, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spectators lined the streets and climbed trees to watch.

Despite the threatening skies, vintage planes took flight, including a B-25 Mitchell bomber with a P-51 Mustang on each wingtip. A C-47 cargo plane did, as well, with two more P-51s accompanying, per the New York Times. The parade, which began at the Lincoln Memorial, was to include thousands of soldiers in historic and modern uniforms, dozens of Army vehicles including Abrams tanks, and a flyover. Evening fireworks were to follow, though the rainfall began not long after the event kicked off. Trump had said rain would not stop the parade. A Navy veteran who voted for Trump attended the daylong festival as well as the parade, which he told the AP "was a little over the top." Pointing at a tank, Doug Haynes said that the display of force would make a "very bold statement to the world, perhaps."

Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump were in the crowd, including Christopher Quaglin, a New Jersey electrician who was convicted of assaulting police officers at the Capitol. He brought a large flag calling the insurrection an inside job—an unproven conspiracy theory—and sold smaller versions of it for $40. "It's important for us to come out to spread the truth," Quaglin said, per the Washington Post. The event took place as demonstrators across the country gathered for anti-Trump protests, labeled "No Kings." The Washington event drew Trump protesters as well as antiwar demonstrators to Washington. (More parade stories.)