Donald Trump will hold a military parade on June 14, the date marking the 250th anniversary of the Army... and the American president's birthday.

A fervent admirer of the Bastille Day parade, Donald Trump has decided to carry out one of his long-standing projects: organizing a military parade in Washington. He has chosen June 14, 2025, as the date, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Army and coincide with his ^79th birthday.

The Republican intends to "pay tribute to American veterans, active-duty members of the armed forces, and military history," White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly wrote on Friday, May 3. "We will hold the largest and most beautiful military parade in our history," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News.

The Pentagon is planning 6,600 troops, 50 aircraft and 150 vehicles for the parade, which will be accompanied, according to spokeswoman Heather Hagan, by a "spectacular" fireworks display and celebrations throughout the day on the National Mall, a vast esplanade in the heart of the US capital.

A Fox News article states that the parade will feature reenactments and equipment from the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, as well as the two World Wars, the Vietnam War, and more recent conflicts (Iraq, Afghanistan). Active-duty military personnel and students from various U.S. military academies will participate, according to the same source.

The United States Army was founded on June 14, 1775, just over a year before the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776 – July 4th is now the national holiday in the United States.

Donald Trump, a man with a penchant for official pomp, has promised to mark the country's 250th anniversary with great pomp in 2026. But it is this year that he intends to implement a project already discussed during his first term (2017-2021).

The American president greatly appreciated the spectacle of the Bastille Day parade in Paris, to which his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, invited him in 2017. But his desire to organize a parade in Washington has so far never materialized, as the Pentagon has highlighted the potentially staggering cost of such an event, not to mention concerns about the damage tanks and other heavy military vehicles would cause on the city's streets. The last major military parade in the United States was held in 1991 in Washington to celebrate the end of the Gulf War.

The announcement of the June 14 parade comes shortly after Donald Trump announced that he wanted to rename November 11 and May 8, the dates that marked the end of the two world wars , as "VE Days."

The Republican president, who also holds the title of "commander in chief," has completely overhauled the country's military leadership, dismissing many senior officers. As on many issues, the Republican billionaire has made contradictory statements about the military, boasting of its power but also claiming that it was weakened and needed to be rebuilt. During his previous term (2017-2021), he fell out with generals and shocked others by calling soldiers who died in combat "losers," accusations he has since denied.