'This would make great TV': How Donald Trump got the military parade he wanted

In June 2024, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his aides were at a Virginia military base where the service was putting on one of its live-action shows for kids and families.

The event -- a decades-long tradition known as the "Twilight Tattoo" -- was a spectacle. Soldiers from ceremonial units reenact the history of the Army, complete with Revolutionary War garb, music, theatrical vignettes and military pageantry, all meant to serve as a kind of salute to Army soldiers and their families.

George and his top communications adviser, Col. Dave Butler, were attending with several media executives, when one of them leaned over.

"This would make great television," the executive said, according to Butler.

George and his staff had already been talking about how to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday. Maybe, they thought, the National Park Service would let them host one of their live-action shows on the National Mall, the officials thought.

After President Donald Trump took office and the June 14 birthday was getting closer, the Army began to toss around more ideas. One idea was to add tanks or other iconic Army equipment to an exhibit parked on the National Mall where tourists could learn about the Army's history of fighting the nation's wars.

Butler said he doesn't remember who first broached the idea of turning the Army's show into a parade. But once the idea was floated, no one seemed to push back.

By June, the Army had a plan of what they would include: 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, 50 aircraft flying overhead including World War II-era planes and high-tech weaponry like rocket launchers.

Trump, a former media executive himself, seemed game to the idea. One official involved in the planning described it like "knocking on an unlocked door."

"We wanted to reintroduce this nation's Army to the American people," Butler said. "To do that, we thought we needed to be in their living rooms and on their phones. We needed something that would catch the national eye."

As the Army prepares for its birthday parade in downtown Washington on Saturday, not everyone is on board. About 6 in 10 Americans say that Saturday's parade is "not a good use" of government money, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The White House has not released an estimate of the parade's cost, with only the Army's portion of moving troops and equipment expected to cost up to $45 million. Security is expected to add significantly to the price tag.

Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Army veteran who deployed with the Illinois National Guard during the Iraq War, said the money would be better spent on helping troops pay for essentials like child care.

"Donald Trump's birthday parade has nothing to do with celebrating the Army's 250th birthday -- it's to stroke his own ego and make taxpayers foot the bill," said Duckworth.

Duckworth and other Trump critics also note a military parade is often associated with countries like Russia and North Korea, where dictators march its soldiers and equipment through their streets. Advocates are organizing protests in cities other than Washington -- dubbed the "No Kings" protests.

Trump, who turns 79 on Saturday, said he wants a military parade to show how great the country is. The president first pushed the idea in 2017 after attending the Bastille Day parade and celebration in France, saying he wanted to "try and top it." That effort was canceled after price estimates topped $90 million.

When asked Thursday what he hopes the public will remember about the American parade, Trump said, "How great our country is, very simple, and how strong our military is."

"We have the strongest military in the world," he added.

According to Army officials involved in the planning effort, including Butler, the White House helped the Army plan the birthday celebration as an event focused on the Army's service to the nation.

There are no plans currently, for example, to sing the president happy birthday. The president also is not expected to speak, leaving much of the festivities to the soldiers.

According to the schedule, Trump will watch the tanks and soldiers march down Constitution Avenue from a viewing stand near the White House. Toward the end of the event, he will receive a flag from a soldier who will parachute on to the White House Ellipse. After that, the president will give the oath of enlistment to some 250 soldiers.

The event concludes with fireworks over the Tidal Basin.

Still, there are some of Trump's fingerprints on the event. In the final days leading up to the event, the White House made an unusual request. Trump, they said, wanted the Air Force to bring its fighter jets to the Army's party. If weather allows, the Thunderbirds will now do a flyover.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly defended the move to let the Air Force participate in the Army's birthday parade.

"The President wants the Army Birthday Parade to feature the strength, talent, and creativity of all our military servicemembers," she said in a statement. "The Thunderbirds flyover will inspire patriotism and awe for all who attend!"