President Trump took to Twitter on Friday to announce that the large-scale military parade he wanted this year has been cancelled. Trump blamed local officials who “poorly” run Washington, D.C., for inflating the costs. The city is led Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Black woman, and she called Trump out on his inaccuracies.
Trump tweeted:
The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you up! I will instead…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2018
He wants Bowser to take the fall, but the projected $92 million cost of the parade, which was tentatively scheduled for Nov. 10, was largely attributed to Pentagon costs for aircraft, equipment and personnel.
“The figure consists of $50 million from the Pentagon and $42 million from interagency partners such as the Department of Homeland Security,” according to CNBC. “An initial estimate last month pegged the prospective cost for the parade at $12 million.”
Bowser responded to Trump’s claims on Twitter by highlighting that she told his administration the cost for a military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue would far exceed the original estimates.
Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad). https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx
— MurielBowser (@MurielBowser) August 17, 2018
Bowser, a Democrat, also released the following statement:
“The District has a long history of hosting parades, protests, and demonstrations including National Special Security Events. We have always done so professionally, fairly, and efficiently.
“That has and will continue to be the case. As the District has shown as recently as this past weekend, we can execute these events even under the toughest of circumstances.”
She was referring to the Unite the Right 2 rally held last weekend.
Bowser concluded, “Any statement to the contrary is an affront to those who safely host events in our nation’s capital each and every day, including our first responders.”
Trump also tweeted that in lieu of his cancelled parade, he plans to attend a separate military parade on Joint Base Andrews in nearby Prince George’s County, Maryland.
