Going through with his plan of giving himself a military parade on his birthday, Donald Trump hosted the same on June 14 , 2025 in Washington DC. Since his birthday fell on the same day as the American Military’s 250 year anniversary, the parade was done to celebrate both occasions.
While Trump’s birthday falling on the same day as the military’s anniversary was a coincidence, the President’s decision of giving himself a military parade with a huge number of soldiers and army vehicles was met with criticism since the time he talked about them. Trump had also dreamt of having a similar kind of birthday celebration during his first term as the American President, but it had not materialized back then.
However, this time, Trump ensured that he got what he wanted but by the looks of the parade and the comments of social media users, it seems that the intended effect could not be achieved. Talking about the same, one social media user posted, “I really thought Trump’s police state parade would look fascist and scary. Instead it’s just humiliating. Are the soldiers marching like this as a low key f— you to Trump? Compare it to any other military parade and you’ll see what I mean.”
Another one added that the soldiers were not walking in lockstep, which is something that is generally a common practice among them, especially when in uniform. Explaining it further, the user said, “These soldiers couldn’t be further from marching in lockstep. / It’s clear that they don’t want to be a part of Trump’s Dictator Parade — and are just phoning it in.”
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An army veteran also joined the discussion, saying, “I’ve marched in more military parades than I even care to remember. Probably watched dozens more as a spectator. And this is easily the worst and sloppiest marching I’ve ever witnessed at a formal military parade. It feels like a big “f— you” to Trump from the soldiers.”
Another user chipped in, saying, “After engaging with US Army veterans in the comments, I think I might have to issue a correction here. These guys do/should know how to march and could have if they wanted to. They probably just didn’t care about this parade at all and put in zero effort.”
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Moreover, the turnout was also lower than expected and as reported by Irish Star, “According to the US Army, 6,169 soldiers paraded through the streets alongside 128 tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery while 62 aircraft flew overhead.”
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Trump’s decision of holding this military parade on his birthday was already criticised since it was announced and on Saturday many ‘No Kings’ protests took place in over 2,000 cities around the country. With a disheartening parade and the criticism all around the event, it now remains to be seen how Trump handles the whole thing and if he offers public comments on the same.
