President Donald Trump’s proposal to hold a large-scale military parade in Washington, with marching soldiers and rows of tanks and armored vehicles, could cost as much as $30 million, according to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
The cost would depend on how many troops are involved and the types of military equipment chosen, Mulvaney told the House Budget Committee.
“I’ve seen various different costs estimates of between $10 million and $30 million, depending on the size of the parade, the scope of it, the length of it, those kind of things,” Mulvaney said.
Pentagon officials have said they are preparing options in a response to a request from Trump for a military parade to showcase America’s armed forces and military might, similar to the annual French Bastille Day parade that he attended in July in Paris.
The Pentagon last staged a parade in Washington in 1991 to celebrate victory in the first Persian Gulf War, which saw a vast U.S.-led military coalition push Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.
More than 8,000 troops marched down Constitution Avenue as stealth fighter planes soared overhead and tanks and Patriot missile batteries rolled past an estimated 200,000 people. The event was reported to cost $12 million.
Officials are reportedly considering staging Trump’s parade on Veterans Day, which is on Nov. 11.
The proposed federal budget released this week did not include money for the parade, so the White House presumably would have to seek funding from Congress.
“We’d have to appropriate funds for it, we’d have to find funds for it,” Mulvaney told Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. “We’ve not done much research on it,” he added.
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