President Trump’s former communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Thursday that he hoped the U.S. does not hold a military parade, a day after the White House confirmed its looking into the idea of staging one in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Post first reported that Trump asked the Pentagon to explore holding “a celebration” for Americans to show their appreciation for the military.
The president reportedly expressed his interest in hosting a military parade after watching France’s Bastille Day Parade last summer.
{mosads}“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” a military official told the Post. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”
The White House confirmed that the idea is in the planning stage.
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe. He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Post reports that Pentagon officials want such an event to take place on Veterans Day, in part because it would correspond with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and would not be so closely tied to Trump himself.