Trump basks in birthday military parade as protests sweep US / Photo: © AFP
Trump basks in birthday military parade as protests sweep US
US President Donald Trump reveled in a long dreamt-of military parade on his 79th birthday Saturday, as demonstrators across the country branded him a dictator in the biggest protests since his return to power.
Trump stood and saluted as tanks rumbled past, aircraft roared overhead and nearly 7,000 troops marched through Washington in the largest such parade in the United States in decades.
Chants of "USA! USA!" erupted as the Republican took to a giant stage in front of the White House for the parade which officially marked the 250th birthday of the US Army, but also happened to fall on Trump's own.
The deep political divisions in the United States were underscored however as "No Kings" demonstrators thronged the streets in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Houston and Atlanta.
"I think people are mad as hell," Lindsay Ross, a 28-year-old musician, told AFP in New York, where tens of thousands of people rallied.
The killing of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband Saturday in the northern state of Minnesota -- in what authorities called a targeted attack -- also cast a pall over the parade.
Trump was quick to condemn the attacks outside Minneapolis in which former state speaker Melissa Hortman died along with her husband, while another state lawmaker and his wife were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
- 'Big day' -
Military parades are a more common sight in capitals like Moscow and Pyongyang than Washington, but Trump has openly expressed his wishes for one since his first term.
His dream came true on Saturday with a $45-million spectacle -- although starting around half an hour early because of the threat of thunderstorms raining on his parade.
The procession began with a 21-gun salute followed by the presentation of a flag to Trump by the army's Golden Knights parachute team who dropped from the sky.
Two huge Abrams tanks were stationed in front of the stage where Trump sat.
Troops and military hardware from different eras of US history then passed by, with an announcer reeling off victories over Japanese, German, Chinese and Vietnamese forces in past wars.
Trump, who saluted a number of times and chatted occasionally to First Lady Melania Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during the parade, was due to give remarks later.
The Republican, who has begun his second term by pushing presidential powers to unprecedented levels, boasted earlier on his Truth Social network that it was a "big day for America!!!"
He added that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, for whom he has repeatedly expressed admiration, had "very nicely" called him to wish him a happy birthday.
The two leaders also agreed on the need for an end to the Iran-Israel conflict -- a war in which US forces are aiding Israel to shoot down Tehran's missiles.
- 'Vulgar display' -
The White House meanwhile dismissed the "No Kings" rallies as a "complete and utter failure" and said the numbers involved were "miniscule," despite images of streets filled with protesters.
Organizers expected protests in all 50 states against what they call Trump's dictatorial overreach, and in particular what they described as the strongman symbolism of the parade.
Thousands turned out in Los Angeles to protest Trump's deployment of troops in the country's second-largest city following clashes sparked by immigration raids.
Some protesters targeted Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida -- while a small group even gathered in Paris.
"I think it's disgusting," protester Sarah Hargrave, 42, told AFP in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, describing Trump's parade as a "display of authoritarianism."
Critics have accused Trump of acting like the United States's autocratic adversaries.
California's Governor Gavin Newsom, who slammed Trump for sending National Guard troops into Los Angeles without his consent, called it a "vulgar display of weakness."
D.Cook--TNT
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