Public sentiment surrounding Trump's military parade is overwhelmingly negative, with significant criticism regarding the event's expenditures, perceived political motivations, and execution. While a small minority expressed pride in the military, the dominant view reflects a sense of embarrassment and disappointment, likening the parade to authoritarian displays rather than a genuine tribute to military service. Concerns also include the misallocation of funds that could better serve veterans and pressing social issues.

Donald Trump

U.S. Military

Veterans

American Public

YUNGVIRGIN1312

Lol, gotta love that one dude wearing sunglasses. Never change, Army

KingBobIV

For the Americans in the room, after your basic training how often do you actually use drill in this manner? Like, would most of the troops in this parade have done something like this before or is it something you learn and rarely do again? 

I know there's probably a million different answers - up in the CAF it ranges from "weekly" to "never", just trying to get a feel for the average.

ricketyladder

Man, that shit has to suck. I absolutely hated all the dry runs upper leadership would make us do.

WakaFlacco

Hmmm.  I thought DOGE was supposed to end this type of waste.

_Bon_Vivant_

ThuggyDuneBuggy

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/paratroopers-set-to-give-trump-birthday-gift-at-250th-anniversary-army-parade/ar-AA1FB74b?apiversion=v2&amp;noservercache=1&amp;domshim=1&amp;renderwebcomponents=1&amp;wcseo=1&amp;batchservertelemetry=1&amp;noservertelemetry=1

For any of you arguing this is only about the military - try again. They're having the Golden Knights parachute in to present him with a birthday present.

The original celebration did not include the parade. Trump demanded it for his birthday. He tried this same thing last term, but the adults in the room told him no. He made sure all those people were fired this time. 

This is 100% about trump and making a big show of fascist military loyalty to him personally.

ThrowAwayGarbage82

Don’t we make fun of countries that do these parades? (I.e North Korea, china…)

Red_or_Green

paging_mrherman

Forcing young men to dress up like the war you dodged is peek irony.

Omegaman2010

Goodness am I glad to be retired on this fine morning.

ToolAlert

https://preview.redd.it/gn4bq50aor6f1.jpeg?width=1024&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=3520548bafddfc6a01a72f9274c29ec127f2c944

In full uniform

abuwalda

Glad we are adding to our national debt to stroke a man-child's vanity.

Brit-Yank

I personally know people who got tasked with participating and they’re not happy about it, this is such a waste of money and everyone’s time 

jdgetrpin

A military parade for a draft dodger, nice.

RetPallylol

NoDeparture7996

Hope it thunderstorms like they say. That would be icing on the cake. "We are reducing spending. "  😀

Patient-Ad7291

Being in the middle of the gaggle is best because you don't have to stay in step.

Jimmytwofist

Lock ur knees when u see the Captain Bone Spurs !!!

Afraid-Ad7379

Look like a whole gaggle of Soup Sandwiches

themarmalademaniac

HerMajestyTheQueef1

SoloWingPixy88

I've been better marching at high school marching band comps. Why are we wasting money on this again?

wtfbenlol

This is infuriating how wasteful and dishonorable this administration is, and how much support from my fellow veterans this display of *weakness* is receiving

Tacoflavoredfists

I remember when we mocked the soviets for doing this.

letthetreeburn

Rewatching the Death of Stalin reminds me that they have the opportunity to do the funniest thing during this.

CanadianMonarchist

Gotta get then knees higher to do a proper goose step!

DJErikD

Homebrewerguy

SheldonMF

iwantallthechocolate

I actually thought "Oh Chinese soldiers doing a missile parade. Hah, idiots. Glad I don't live there."

I really saw that before I saw the title and that's what I thought.

Kaltovar

For those who say it’s for the Army’s 250th birthday, I ask why for its birthday did the regime also lay off thousands of veterans contracted to the government and take an axe to the VA? This doesn’t do anything to support our veterans. Trump wanted one of these because he went to France during their military parade, way back in 2018. This president has publicly degraded veterans, POWs, and, most abhorrently, degraded disabled veterans. 

The purported purpose this is to celebrate and appreciate the military does not align with the actions undertaken by the regime.

AemAer

They should have used all AIT and basic troops.

curiousamoebas

![gif](giphy|HpyYHxyJEqFyJoxTxQ|downsized)

HeartRevolution

America’s military doesn’t really have a showy, performative marching style. This is not going to look as impressive as Trump thinks.

JoyRideinaMinivan

There is a lot of pomp and circumstance for a draft dodger

Therealpatrickelmore

Everything about this parade is disgusting.

eyehate

I am so sorry to the soldiers. It is so degrading to be reduced from a position of prestige and civil service to a toy for a fat old draft dodger.

ConsiderationSea1347

Weird to put on a show for a man who called all these guys sucker's.

hellcat858

What a colossal waste of time, money, and reputation. FFS, isn’t Jabba dead yet?

Pleasant_Character28

Sure glad I’m out. I hate that POS and the idea of being his pawn for a draft dodging dicklicking dictator..no thanks. Enjoy the shit show boys

SpecificFabulous5844

There is a simple explanation for this extravagance.  Trump's military themed high school paraded down 5th avenue.  He's reliving his past, but bigger.

MacMcMufflin

Mmmm so efficient… no waste here at all 🙃

Gabe330

God their formation and sync is terrible. Fitting for this.

TheJase

Too bad he's gonna fall asleep for a lot of it.

opticalessence

Glad I’m retired and don’t have to march in TACO’s ego trip parade.

Bad0din

mrd247

“When an army spends more on parades than on its soldiers, its priorities are as much on display as its troops.”

Bwr0ft1t0k

“Absolutely not. We are the pre-eminent power on Earth. For us to try to imitate what the Soviets are doing in Red Square would make us look weak.”— Historian Michael Beschloss, paraphrasing President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s attitude about military parades

Is this not for the 250th anniversary of the army? Maybe that's a hint as to why there are older uniforms lmao

Club_Penguin_Legend_

What's really nice is that Trump served all those years in the military to deserve something like this, right?

thegreentiger0484

Royal-Student-8082

Phoephoe1

Does your country do this for all presidents ? Amazing I never thought any country do this for their state heads.

AshutoshRaiK

They’re probably still working right now. Military time is often measured in hours waiting.

math-yoo

We called them dog and pony shows, just another day being told when and where to march, when we could be chillin instead.

Jmz67

Playing the song "Fortunate Son" for the soldiers to march to was very apt for the five times squib who ducked any military training during the Vietnam War due to 'bone spurs' (temp).

kanga0359

ITT: nobody who participated in the parade today but everyone sharing their opinion of what it likely was like anyway. 

jforjay

Not US military but a long-serving one. The absolute majority of military personnel *hate* parades. Especially if done only for a senior officers’ ego.

Bods666

The military is a very mixed bag of people and beliefs. Some think that Fox news is playing 24/7 on base is awesome, some think it's annoying AF. Some are part of the MAGA cult but the majority aren't. Some are politically neutral and some have strong opinions. Just like the civilian population. 

I didn't march in the parade today. I marched elsewhere. But I can tell you. Some of the soldiers were super pleased to be there. Some of them absolutely hated it. Some of them were just bored and didn't care much either way. 

Everyone thinks of the Military as a monolithic unit. In many ways it is. But politically it really isn't.

sp0rkah0lic

phizappa

Talked to a buddy about it yesterday, his unit was spared from attending. Morale was not high about it.

That0neSummoner

Why couldn’t instead of spending that money on a parade, just donated to the VA.

9t3n

Done a few army parades. Most of the dudes there don't want to be there. Few are probably super stoked. 
They likely had to rehearse it a few days leading up to it. Then the day of show up at 3am and stand around til it started. 
Then once it's over get tasked out with cleanup and rehab of all the equipment. 
Huge waste of time and resources

Ok_Space_9223

I've seen 3 posts so far say "I'm not in the military but here's how I'm/they're thinking."

Gorrium

I've been in 7 years across 2 different branches (AF to CG) I've met very few people who are die hard trumpers. A lot of us keep politics out of the office and whenever it's come up in discussion generally (myself included) are patriotic in the sense that we go by what the constitution says. I mean we swear an oath to it not the president anyway. 

Also we all hate dog and pony shows and parades. I love doing community outreach events but we never do those in uniform.

IornBeagle

I find it hilarious that a draft dodger gets this parade. Oh and its the same Guy that says that soldiers that get killed or captured are losers and suckers….

H3lw3rd

I remember having to do a parade in Seattle. I had a fever of 103. I sweat through my uniform, soaked. A major asked me why I wasn't smiling, I said I was sick. He ordered me to smile, I said, " Thank me for my service" and smiled sarcastically and immediately went to a frown. What was he going to do? Pull me out of a parade?  I spent the rest of the march infuriated that tax dollars were going to waste, that we were wasting our time and energy.

I didnt join the infantry to march in parades, paint Strykers, mop rain or pick up cigarette butts. 

I joined because I needed Healthcare for my wife and kids. 


You could hear the people saying, thank you for your service as we walked past.

The glorification of the military machine has nothing to do with freedom. It has everything to do with control.

They need poor disadvantaged people to fill the ranks of the combat arms.

They glorify the military to make it an easier pill to swallow. 

Its disgusting being a tool of the state. I felt dirty and useless the whole time.

It was fun training and working with my peers. Have a good day.

Oh. Thank me for my service.

zimbabweinflation

Someone on here who knows better than I made a few observations about the whole affair. Army does seem to have phoned this in, possibly on purpose. 

No dress uniforms, soldiers were noticeably out of step.

Darkmetroidz

As someone who has done it before, this seemed kinds last minute with the way it was organized and set up. 


Our basic training graduation day parade is  better performed and rehearsed I feel. lol

TruestoryJR

God there's so many presumptuous assholes who didn't participate making comments. So I'll tell you my opinion from someone who *actually* was in the parade (11th Airborne, broadcast called us Arctic Angels)

Overall the event wasn't anywhere near as bad or "dog and pony show" as anything I've ever done. I've been in for 11 years next week and this was the mos mild thing by far. 

TLDR: Not a terrible event, decent (mid) parade, super chill preparation, would do again regardless who's president. 8/10

Leading up to this we were asked who wanted to do this (versus the usual "voluntold") and told we'd basically get a free week of leave in DC leading up to the event. Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. We got here monday afternoon and had all the way until Friday afternoon to do whatever we wanted so long as we didn't get in trouble or come back too drunk. Friday was the only preparation day where we just practiced marching back and forth for an hour and then called it good. 

Day of wasn't so bad either but could've been more efficient with time imo. We all formed up in the middle of the road in a staging area around 1pm which wasn't ideal because it was hot and not all of us brought water bottles with us. Getting through secret service security took entirely too long in my opinion but at the same time, I get it. Once through we sat inside giant air conditioned tents waiting for 3 hours to start marching. Which, again, wasn't bad either. Granted a lot of people suck at staying in step when marching but it was loud with the music and people yelling. 

Honestly, I'm neither a Trump hater nor supporter but getting to the viewing stand and seeing him salute while having music and people cheering for us and the USA chants kinda makes you feel a type of way. Afterwards we were all making jokes about "oh Trump made eye contact with us" or "Dana White totally saw me so I'll see you in the UFC". Just people being people having fun how they can. Shoot, after we got away from the crowds my whole division started singing our division songs and "Blood On the Risers" walking back down C st towards where we were staying. 

All in all, I didn't hate this whole event. Was it a waste of money? Probably. Could they have let individual units celebrate the 250th how they wanted to instead of a parade? Yeah, but most units still did stuff anyways so we got both. Would I do this again? Absolutely. I got a free week to play tourist in DC with my soldiers and got to walk in a parade where I genuinely felt supported versus the very disingenuous "thank you for your service" we occasionally get. I'd give this whole event a solid 8/10 compared to all the other Army BS I've dealt with the past 11 years.

Edit: don't come at me with your political opinions, hate, or attacks either. 1. Regulations say I can't talk publicly about it and 2. I genuinely don't care. I've served under Obama, Trump, and Biden and not once has whoever was in charge affected me or my life so I've learned how little it matters what I or other think.

armymaddog101

My brother (West Point graduate 15 years ago), and my father (retired Army) have been looking forward to the Army celebration for three years now (250 year birthday).  I’m pretty agnostic about the whole thing.  But for THEM… yeah, they are bummed out that it’s become so politicized.  Especially for a couple of Trump haters.  Rest assured, there STILL would have been a cool parade today, had Harris won.  Now it’s all stained.

RandyRhoadsLives

As a Vet I can say one thing. They didn’t truly have much notice, didn’t agree with the idiocy, or thought it was all bullshit and wouldn’t happen! All you have to do is look at how shitty and out of cadence their marching was!

Bear71

My husband didn't actually participate in the parade but performed a safety role for it essentially. He said it was another job for him, but he's glad his job description involves keeping everyone safe versus anything else. He was nervous people were going to get hurt as well.

solitarytrees2

What was up with that marching? Was the cadence caller fired for being DEI? Was it protest? We would’ve gotten the shit smacked out of us in military school for that kind of sloppiness. It looked like people who wanted to be literally anywhere else and I’m for that.

Malodoror

[deleted]

Not in the US military but I've done my share of Dog and Pony shows.

First thing... for the troops just marching. It's nothing easy day maybe a free weekend going drinking.

The drivers. Well they have to get their vehicle back to the train yard.

Logistics.  Either have some insane deadline to get everything back or have all the time in the world. So drinking in their hotel or drinking on the job.

They're all drunk right now.

T_DeadPOOL

Some brave men couldn't march today - bone spurs.

ChooseMercy

“The turnout of the parade was due to the previous administration.  They didn’t parade enough and the people lost interest in parades.  It’s too bad, because my parade is the best maybe even the biggest, definitely the largest parade.  It’s a beautiful parade, better than any other country’s parade. Kim Jong-Un would run in fear at the size of my parade. 

We’re going to rename the Macy’s day parade to Donald’s Day parade, it’s an executive order that I have already signed so it’s law.  What a dumb name, some say it’s a fake name, Macys.   Macys, your fake news and it’s time for real news to be here, I’m looking forward to my parade this Thanksgiving.”

Eight67530nein

heckfyre

Was a gunner on a Bradley for some time-- there was someone from the Pentagon coming to see our vehicle line, so our commander had us working in the motor pool with spot lights on after hours (whatever afterhours are in military work time) and grease shining every single barrel while towel washing the armor plates and the interior of all vehicles until they were "white glove" clean.... The dude from the Pentagon never showed up, our vehicles were clean for 5 minutes before they became dirt and dust filled again.. 

As for these parades and marches for show, they were not fun---and it did not matter who the president was, it was the entire concept of this show that was a waste of time for someones ego.

YouThinkYouClever

They’re not gonna answer this question.

But one thing you have to keep in mind is that within the Army, this was billed as and trained up as a parade for the 250th birthday of the Army. Soldiers are expected to be proud of their service. They’ll have been encouraged to see participating in this as a great honor to themselves and to the Army without it being about President Trump.

Also, there is a good chance they found participating to be very physically tiring.

So probably you’d hear a mixed bag of “proud” and “tired” as overall feelings.

BadHombreSinNombre

I worked at the event. Not military, but production. I noticed 3 pretty distinct types of people involved with the event: those who were proud and excited to be there, those who were stressed at the center of the shit show (it sure was one), and those who were just doing it for the paycheck.

Certainly_Unc3rtain

This question is not going to get the real answers from military folks. They (we) have to remain apolitical concerning these kinds of things. Of course you’ll always have your fringe “can’t wait to get out nothing is good types” as well as the opposite extreme “ultra gung-ho”. Responses from both of these extremes should be treated with cautions sto reality.

Thin-Ad-4356

Been out for a minute but you'll get forced to do a lot of things when you're in the military. They were probably tasked with it, volunteered, or if there wasn't enough volunteers, you'll be "voluntold". AMA.

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throw_its

More people showed up to protest him than to celebrate him 😅

IrishStarUS

The Oklahoma City No Kings Protest looked like it had more people and was a better time. 

Can't wait for the midnight rant on this one.

anythingbutmetric

PointBreakvsLebowski

People are waking up to the election fraud

Hanjaro31

According to Alt National Park Service, there were 11 MILLION people protesting. WOW

belugabianca

This makes me happy.  
\~Army Desert Storm veteran\~

Ill_Illustrator_6097

I’m just sitting over here giggling like a maniac every time I see a post about his crowd sizes

Mermaid_Salad

Now go vote in the midterms like your life depended on IT.

Outrageous_Lack8435

Now I wonder if he is going to spin this as an attack against him personally, unpatriotic and an insult to the military or both.

Maltrez

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qualityvote2

CraftyProposal6701

formerNPC

I don't celebrate deplorable peoples birthdays.

It'd be like saying Happy Hitler Day.

LarYungmann

President Trump's military parade faced heavy criticism amid concerns about military spending and political motivations.

Trump's Military Parade

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