“Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Hoo, they’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no senator’s son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one, no”

— Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival--As Played During Donald J. Trump's Military Parade, Signaling Just How Clueless Trump Really Is

“Been dazed and confused for so long, it’s not true . . .
Lots of people talking, few of them know
You hurt and abuse, tellin’ all of your lies”

— Dazed and Confused, Led Zeppelin--As Played During Donald J. Trump's Military Parade. I, Like Many Attending, Were Dazed, But We Weren't Confused. We Left Early.

[Note: The Cover Photo Was Captured at 7:17 PM on June 14th, 2025. The Parade Celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th Birthday Began at 6:00 PM. At the Time, the Parade Still Had 15 or 20 Minutes to Run. The White House Subsequently Claimed 250,000 People Had Attended]

Growing up in Milwaukee, summers during the Sixties and early Seventies brought one memorable event: The Great Circus Parade. Headquartered in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the Ringling Brothers Circus traveled by train, performing in cities throughout the county. To increase ticket sales, Ringling Brothers staged parades in each community to boost ticket sales.

Beginning in 1963, C.P. “Chappie” Fox, the director of the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, and Ben Barkin, the PR man for Schlitz Brewing Company, teamed up to stage a circus parade celebrating the Ringling Brothers Circus. Hundreds of thousands of people lined Milwaukee’s streets to witness the annual spectacle.

PBS carried the parade live, providing affiliates throughout the country with the video feed. Eventually, the feed was relayed to 80 countries throughout the world. The event became a national phenomenon, with New York and Chicago trying to entice the Circus World Museum to change the parade’s venue.

Back in the day, people weren’t concerned with animal rights, so elephants joined the parade, as did lions, tigers, chimpanzees, and giraffes. Thirty bands took part, along with 400 horses, and 50 restored circus wagons. Let’s not forget the politicians in antique cars, jugglers, cyclists riding large-wheeled bikes, stilt walkers, and the clowns. Oh yeah, cotton candy. Nobody worried about A1C in those halcyon days.

The Great Circus Parade exemplifies what a parade should be. It serves as the yardstick by which all other parades are measured, at least for me.

Now, jump ahead 60-plus years. Donald J. Trump has wanted to stage a military parade since his first term. General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, Trump’s first Secretary of Defense, convinced Trump to forego the parade. In Mattis’ words, he would rather “swallow acid” than oversee military troops marching through the streets of Washington, D.C. With troops now deployed in Los Angeles to stifle legitimate descent, Mattis most likely would resign before he would yield to Donald J. Trump’s vanity.

But with lickspittle Pete Hegseth now playing Secretary of Defense on television, nobody put the kibosh on Trump’s military parade when he floated the idea earlier this year. Ostensibly, Trump wanted to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, but today also is Trump’s 79th birthday.

While millions attended the No Kings counter-rallies and marches in over 2,000 locales throughout the country today, Donald J. Trump unsuccessfully sought reflected glory from some 6,600 soldiers who passed by the gigantic reviewing stand that had been erected on the Ellipse just south of the White House. By all measures, the hoped-for spectacle was anything but.

The Build Out. I had other business in Washington D.C. this past week, so I arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Each day, however, I checked on the preparations for the parade. While I had read numerous articles about the security arrangements, only when I saw the security fencing being assembled, did I understand the security system being put in place.

I had wrongly assumed the 8-foot-high anti-scaling fencing would line the parade route along Constitution Avenue, but I only saw low-rise bicycle racks. The 8-foot fencing was set back far from the street, located behind the areas where the spectators would view the parade. Everyone would enter though three security checkpoints. After clearing security, they were free to roam from 14th Street (Washington Monument) to 23rd Street (near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall). The 8-foot fencing lining the south side of the mall would keep unscreened people out of the viewing area.

I don’t know how long the construction crews had been working on the reviewing stand, but it was near completion by Friday morning. The 18 miles of anti-scaling fencing was largely in place by Wednesday morning, but crews continued the build-out throughout the week. I saw people bolting the panels together, with the resulting weight added by each panel to the whole making it impossible to topple the fencing.

Interestingly, as I walked past some crews, I heard Spanish being spoken. I couldn’t help but wonder whether some of the workers were undocumented migrants recruited by Donald J. Trump’s government at a nearby Home Depot.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]

**Someone Expressing His or Her Objections**

**Anti-Scaling Fencing Waiting to be Installed Near the Ellipse**

**Unloading an Equipment Truck Adjacent to the Ellipse**

**The Area in Front of the Reviewing Stand**

**A NewsMax Team on the Air Reporting about the Parade**

**Some People Claim the Parade Celebrates the Military, Not Donald J. Trump’s 79th Birthday**

**The True Cost of the Parade: Denying People Access to Their Government**

The Parade by the Numbers. The parade included roughly 6,600 soldiers, seven military bands, 150 vehicles, and 50 aircraft. Thirty-seven horses and mules also accompanied the soldiers, plus Doc Holliday, a dog with a loud and continuous bark.

Those who bothered to look upward saw 49 aircraft passing over head in five or six formations. Most people never noticed the jets, military transports, or helicopters because the aircraft passed over the mall while most spectators faced the opposite direction as they watched the parade. Even those who momentarily turned away from the parade may not have seen much due to the thick foliage and the hazy skies.

The parade’s total cost: somewhere around $45 million. Given Donald J. Trump’s obsession with university overhead cost allocations, I wonder whether that number includes only direct outlays, or whether it includes allocated overhead.

My Logistics. The day also included a festival on the National Mall. From 9:30 AM to Noon, the organizers staged a fitness competition—I assume Donald J. Trump was not one of the participants. Country Singers Noah Hicks and Scotty Hastings performed during the afternoon. Both children and their parents could pose with large pieces of military hardware—tanks and guns—all Instagram ready. At 4:15 PM, the organizers held a cake cutting ceremony in recognition of the Army’s 250th birthday.

Skipping the daytime events, I first took the Metro to the George Washington Masonic Temple in Alexandria, Virginia, where the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund was holding its annual In Memory Day Observance.

After stopping back at my hotel, I then headed to Logan Circle, where a group was holding a Refuse Fascism demonstration, followed by a march ending within “sight and sound” of the White House—the area in Lafayette Park now reserved for demonstrations.

More about the In Memory Day Observance and the Refuse Fascism rally in other posts.

Once again, I returned to my hotel room to cool down and check Fox News for parade and crowd updates. Thoroughly hydrated, at 4:30 PM I made the eight-block walk to the parade’s entry point.

I had an admission ticket, and I had requested press credentials. I, however, ended up in what might be described as the line for walk-ins. It started in front of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, wrapped around the corner onto 9th Street, and then turned west. Oddly, everyone was forced to traverse a snake-like gauntlet comprised of bicycle racks stretching two blocks. Thirty-five minutes elapsed from the time I entered the line until I cleared the security checkpoint. As for press credentials, they were largely ceremonial. They did not gain anyone additional access. Of course, the Washington Post, New York Times, and other recognized media outlets had greater access.

The security officials were anything but gentle. One official threw my wallet down so violently that the paper currency fell out onto to the table. Same for my SD-card case. One card ended up on the ground. I hadn’t brought a backpack because backpacks were prohibited. Lots of people ignored the rule, but nevertheless were admitted.

As with airport security, everyone had to dispose of their bottled liquids. Given the extreme heat and humidity, enforcing this rule jeopardized people’s well being. The better approach would have been to ask each person to take a sip from his or her bottle.

Earlier in the week, I did some reconnaissance, visiting the designated area for spectators. Per my plan, I headed west to the far end of the parade route. As I expected, there was plenty of space along the bicycle rack fencing, so I snagged a front row position.

I immediately noted one change. The bicycle racks had been reconfigured into boxed-shaped pens. Recalling June 5, 1989, the organizers obviously realized a protester could replicate Tank Man’s moment in Tiananmen Square. Donald J. Trump certainly didn’t want a single protester to delay his spectacle by stopping tanks in their tracks.

The new configuration meant that anyone leaping over a bicycle rack had to make a second leap, which would give the police sufficient time to tackle the protester. Police officers and Secret Service agents were positioned every 10 yards, with zip ties prominently hanging from their bullet-proof vests. As far as I know, nobody disrupted the parade. Every photographer was hoping for someone to take Tank Man’s crown.

Attendance: On Sunday, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung stated, “Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. God Bless the USA!” Once again, the Trump Administration offers outright lies when estimating crowd sizes.

Admittedly, crowd-size estimates are challenging. My educated guess is that no more than 50,000 people attended the parade. To arrive at that number, I divided the viewing area into the following four sectors: (i) the area between the Washington Monument and Constitution Avenue directly in front of the presidential reviewing stand (“Sector I”); (ii) the area running from 17th Street to 23rd Street along Constitution Avenue (“Sector II”); (iii) the area running along 14th Street south of Constitution Avenue where the crowd gathered behind the anti-scaling fencing separating the spectators from the military units as the units exited the parade route (“Sector III”); and (iv) all the green space running from the Washington Monument down to the World War II Memorial ( Sector IV”).

The largest aggregation of people was in Sector I, which was the prime and most desirable viewing area if someone wanted to see the jumbotrons, listen to the play-by-play announcer describe each military unit passing by, and hear Donald J. Trump speak. At most, there were 15,000 people congregated in this area; more likely no more than 10,000. From what I could see, people were not packed like sardines. Crowd density tapered off significantly as the distance from Constitution Avenue increased. People were milling about, some sitting on blankets. This was not a packed, sweat-filled mosh pit.

I stood along the bicycle rack barrier lining Constitution Avenue in Sector II. At most, the crowd was two or three persons deep, but that includes lots of families, where mom and dad stood behind their seated children. It is impossible to say exactly how many people were in Sector II because of its length, but I cannot believe there were more than 10,000 to 15,000 people altogether.

The parade turned south at intersection of Constitution Avenue and 14th Street. The event map did not treat 14th Street as part of the official parade route, but people lined the anti-scaling fencing to watch the military units as they exited the route. The area was relatively compact, so it was crowded. At points, the spectators were four or five persons deep. Once again, the kids were often in front, with their noses pressed against the black metal fencing, while their parents stood behind them. For the sake of argument, I will put the number in Sector III at 5,000, but 2,500 would not be unreasonable estimate.

Sector IV was largely vacant. Small groups milled about, and some people sat on blankets, but there were no crowds to speak of. Once again, for the sake of argument, I’ll assume 5,000 people were present, but the actual number was closer to 1,000, if even that many.

Probably the most densely populated area was the walkway separating the Washington Monument from Sector III. This was where the line formed mid-parade to exit the secured area. Those exiting had to cross 14th Street. During the parade, this meant that people had to walk over one of two temporary bridges spanning the street as the military units passed below.

So, total attendance numbered 40,000 using my most favorable estimates for each sector. I have not provided a tally for the bleacher areas, but the structures were few and far between. The media reported that the bleachers were at half capacity.

Now, take my upper-end estimate, and double it. Eighty thousand falls far short of the 250,000 number reported by the White House. At least the Trump Administration is consistent. It lies about everything.

The Crowd. I expected a MAGA crowd, but without a poll, I can’t say what percentage of those attending were MAGA. I saw plenty of MAGA red hats. Some people wore tee-shirts and other clothes bearing the American Flag, or the flag’s color scheme. Many of those folks might be MAGA, but Donald J. Trump and Company do not have a monopoly on patriotism. I also encountered plenty of people who opposed Donald J. Trump—their signs were the tell. But for the most part, people didn’t wear their politics.

Just before the parade began, a Belgian television station interviewed several parade goers standing next to me. One told the reporter that he was showing his support for the military, but that he doesn’t support Donald J. Trump. The reporter put me on camera, but cut our interview short when I told him I was a photojournalist covering the parade.

Overall, people were friendly, well-behaved, and apolitical. I did have one unfortunate incident with what was most likely a MAGA acolyte. After clearing security, I looked back, capturing images of the lines waiting to pass through the checkpoint. I was not alone. Plenty of people holding iPhones were doing the same.

Mr. Authoritarian yelled at me, telling me I couldn’t photograph the security checkpoint because doing so is illegal. After he demanded to know who I was, I told him, “Fuck off.” As an apparent law and order guy, Mr. Authoritarian should know that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the public has the right to photograph law enforcement officers in public spaces. He apparently assumed that the rules that apply when going through airport security were in force here. Unlike the airport, no signs had been posted prohibiting photography. Given that the checkpoints were temporary, there was little likelihood that anyone would use photographs to plan an attack or identify security shortfalls that could permit someone to sneak a prohibited item through the checkpoint two or three weeks hence.

In any event, the guy followed me, screaming to Secret Service agents that I was a threat because I photographed the security line. From what I can tell, they ignored him. After five minutes, I shook him.

The Weather. All week, the weather forecast called for a deluge of water coinciding with the 6:30 PM start time. I wondered whether they would evacuate the parade were there lightning storms, or would Trump instead sacrifice a few people to feed his ego?

I brought my blue Helly Hansen rain slicker—more to protect my two cameras than myself. Fortunately, except for scattered rain drops lasting no more than five or 10 minutes, no rain materialized. Photographically, I would have preferred rain. The thick haze, even at ground level, proved problematic. A downpour would have created dramatic imagery and cooled everyone off.

The mere threat of rain turned out to be a blessing. The organizers started the parade at 6:00 PM rather than 6:30 PM. Less wasted time. Apparently, if it was going rain, the downpour would have occurred just as Donald J. Trump was speaking.

The Parade as Spectacle. In designing the parade, the organizers elevated the U.S Army’s history over a show of power. The marching units included soldiers dressed as Revolutionary War, “Indian” War, Civil War, and World War I soldiers. Motorized vehicles from World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam era were also incorporated into the procession.

Taking Donald J. Trump out of the equation and ignoring all the controversy surrounding it, the parade was a lifeless event. It was boring rather than exhilarating. In short, Trump’s military parade fell far short of the Great Circus Parade. Specifically,

A. Constitution Avenue Lacks Grandeur. Constitution Avenue may have been the logical place to stage the parade, but it simply lacks the grandeur of Paris’ Champs-Élysées, Russia’s Red Square, China’s Tiananmen Square, or North Korea’s Kim II Sun Square. Photographs of parades in those locations reveal tanks rolling through the streets three abreast and marching units with 20 or 30 soldiers in each row rather than a measly 10.

Constitution Avenue offers no dramatic backdrops. Massive construction projects were underway along two or three blocks of the official route, which meant no banners were hanging from buildings. Piles of sand, scattered rubble, and scaffolding marred the parade’s backdrop. The Ellipse, as the parade’s focal point, is anything but impressive. The area has never been well-maintained. The trees are unkempt, and the grass is shaggy. The reviewing stand was large, but not particularly impressive, with unfinished openings and poor lighting.

B. The Soldiers Were Too Casual. The Army apparently didn’t want to replicate Mussolini Fascism or the Nazi Nuremberg parade rituals, but “Friday Casual” does not project the masculinity that Donald J. Trump is demanding from the Pentagon. Does anyone think that soldiers smile and wave as they gore the enemy with bayonets?

At a military parade, the soldiers should be ramrod straight, goose-stepping as they march, and shouting in unison. Each soldier’s front right foot should hit the pavement at the same time, and each one’s back left leg should be fully extended. In fairness, there was some attempt to synchronize movement, but I saw too many soldiers out of sync. Had Kim Jong Un been in the reviewing stand, he would have pulled out a machine gun, personally mowing down entire units as they passed by. To be clear, I am not suggesting Donald J. Trump should have adopted Kim’s typical response to failure. To be fair, our military does not train for parades honoring would-be dictators. I suspect most of the soldiers would rather have been elsewhere on a sweltering Saturday night.

C. The Uniforms Were Boring. For the most part, the uniforms had a matte/cotton finish. One unit was wearing tan fatigues, while another passed in dark brown fatigues. Or the fatigues were light blue, and then dark navy. No large brass buttons. No saturated or shiny reds or greens. No gloss finishes or large piping. No head wear with plumage. A military parade warrants ceremonial rather than everyday wear.

D. Marching Bands Were Subdued. The marching bands were too subdued, playing at an extremely low volume. I saw no dance steps or other choreography. Moreover, the bands never stood in place, performing an entire number for one section of the crowd.

Rather than performing traditional military anthems, the bands could have played one or two pop anthems from the era associated with the preceding military unit. Maybe Jimi Hendrix with the Vietnam-era units. Or Little Richard with the units from the Korean War.

E. No Information About What Was Passing By. Large arrays of speakers flanked the National Mall in front of the reviewing stand, but otherwise there were no speakers along the parade route. An announcer read from a script, providing those within earshot commentary about what they were seeing. Spectators further west had no idea what was passing before them.

For the spectacle’s estimated $45 million cost, the organizers could have strategically placed speakers along the entire route. If that was not feasible, two or three people should have been carrying large informational banners in front of each unit.

F. No Amusements. Hey, us kids like our clowns and animals. Unfortunately, the only clown present was the big one sitting in the reviewing stand. Kim Jong Un probably would have tossed hand grenades at any clowns, but what about some baton twirlers or cheerleaders? Surely our military academies have cheerleading squads.

G. The Music. At times, rock music blared from the speakers positioned in front of the reviewing stand. Interestingly, the music bed sounded exactly like the original recordings, but the vocal tracks had been excised.

I am willing to bet that the organizers asked Donald J. Trump to choose the musical selections, some of which demonstrate his overall cluelessness. Fortunate Son, the Creedence Clearwater Revival Vietnam-era anthem about the inequities of the draft? Or the Led Zeppelin Classic, Dazed and Confused? Well, maybe that one makes sense. Trump wants us all dazed and confused so we don’t notice his grift. And finally, Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine. Maybe this is a tacit acknowledgement by Trump that Elon Musk was right about Trump’s alleged association with Jeffrey Epstein.

After 40 minutes, I reached my capacity for boredom, so I left my front-row position, Walking around the mall for 25 minutes or so, I didn’t see anything warranting my attention, so I headed for the exits. The entertainers and fireworks held no interest for me.

Exiting the Parade. When I arrived at the two exits just to the east of the Washington Monument, there were long lines of people who apparently agreed with me. Because the parade was still in progress, exiting meant walking over one of the temporary bridges spanning 14th Street. Both were packed with people photographing the military units and equipment as the units passed along 14th Street under the bridges, resulting in a logjam on the bridges. People were told not to take photographs, but nobody expects a jerk with a cellphone to obey instructions or be courteous to other people. Long lines formed to exit, but the lines simply did not move.

After I spent 10 minutes assessing my best course of action, someone ordered one of the two exits closed. I wondered whether that order had come directly from Donald J. Trump, who presumably wanted a full house when he opened his mouth.

Eventually, I found myself sitting on one of the walls surrounding the Washington Monument. I would just have to wait it out.

The parade was to be followed with a concert and fireworks, but I am unsure whether there was a concert. I heard one recorded country song. A bit later, someone introduced another country singer, Warren Zeiders, who performed one song—at least I only heard one song. I am not sure whether Zeiders was even visible to the crowd, even those directly across from the reviewing stand. For all I know, I was hearing just another recording.

Several minutes later, those waiting in line to exit surged forward. The military units had cleared the area under the two temporary bridges on 14th Street, so people were allowed to exit at street level. Let me assure you, this was not one or two people, but hundreds, if not thousands of people exiting.

People voted with their feet. On a sweltering Saturday night few wanted to hear Donald J. Trump riff or weave. The crowd had already experienced to much tedium for one evening. Trump’s parade was a complete bust.

Hopefully there will not be a repeat until the Nation celebrates Trump’s departure from office. Rather than a military parade, maybe it is time to reconstitute the Great Circus Parade. I love real clowns instead of a big fat nasty one.