The U.S. Navy is reportedly planning large-scale public celebrations for its 250th anniversary, after a controversial anniversary parade for the Army in Washington in June reportedly disappointed the president, whose birthday coincided with the event.
Trump told aides he wasn’t thrilled with the $30 million Army spectacle, where crowds were smaller than expected, some soldiers were seen marching out of step, and nationwide “No Kings” protests took up much of the public spotlight.
Now, the Navy is trying to plan a larger event featuring “a shimmering spectacle with seacraft,” The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed administration officials.
The Independent has contacted the White House and the Navy for comment.
Before the Army parade, a Navy spokesperson told USA Today that no similar parades were planned for the service branch.
Beginning this January, the Navy has celebrated its 250th anniversary through a “series of commemorations, including leadership outreach events, multilateral exercises, and community engagements of varying scope and duration,” according to the Navy website.
It will continue to mark its history next year, during wider 250th anniversary celebrations for the U.S. government.
President Trump pushed for large-scale military spectacles in his first term, though the Pentagon blocked him, fearing the events would threaten the military’s tradition of non-partisanship.
Though the president got his way the second time around, the event was not without problems, as administration officials disputed reports that crowd size during the muggy summer evening of the event fell well below estimates.
“When the day came, it was something closer to a medium-sized town’s July 4th celebration,” The Independent’s Richard Hall wrote in his dispatch from the event. “There were families, picnics, bad weather and small crowds.”
Online, meanwhile, critics of the president poked fun at images from the event, including the unexpected appearance of Trump-aligned corporate sponsors like cryptocurrency firm Coinbase and Oracle, as well as a squeaky antique tank filmed driving through a largely silent section of the crowd, viewed by some as a symbol for the event’s larger success.
The president has been accused of politicizing the military in other ways, including pushing service academies to cease teaching certain topics mentioning race and gender, as well as holding campaign-style rallies at bases.
