 "A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, slated to be used in the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday Celebration and Parade, lands on the National Mall near the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Reuters")
The United States is set to host a grand military festival and parade on Saturday (June 14) in Washington to mark its Army’s 250th birthday. The occasion coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday.
The event is expected to cost millions of dollars and feature thousands of soldiers, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of military aircraft. As Trump’s military parade nears, here’s an overview of the grand celebrations.
What will happen?
The US Army’s 250th birthday parade will begin at 6:30 pm ET (4:00 am IST) on Saturday in Washington.
US President Trump, who will be celebrating his 79th birthday on Saturday, will address the crowd during the parade, as per NBC News.
The military parade will be held along the National Mall, along Constitution Avenue NW, between 15th and 23rd streets. The march will wrap up around 7:30 pm ET (5:00 am IST). A fireworks show has been planned for 9:45 pm ET (7:15 am IST).
Besides the parade, the US Army is hosting several other events in the American capital, including a birthday festival on the National Mall.
The event had been in the works for almost two years, with the Army planning to commemorate the 250th anniversary with a festival, reported CBS News. The parade was added to the event only earlier this year.
According to Army officials, Trump’s birthday will not be officially recognised at the event.
What will be on display?
As many as 6,600 soldiers will march in the US Army’s parade. It will also feature 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft, along with three dozen horses, two mules and a dog_._
The parade will be a nod to different eras of the US Army’s history: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, the modern Army and the future.
Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Stryker vehicles, a World War I-era Renault tank, eight CH-47 helicopters, 16 UH-60 Black Hawks, along with World War II-era platforms such as the M4 Sherman tank, the Douglas C-47 transport aircraft and the P-51 Mustang fighter, will participate in the parade. Cobra and Huey helicopters will be a part of the 50 Army aircraft.
“Attendees will experience 250 years of Army heritage through historical US Army personnel reenactors, period-accurate equipment, vehicles, impressive flyovers, and military bands participating in this landmark event.” America250, a bipartisan initiative created by US Congress, said in a press release.
The parade will also witness an air show and flyover. It will conclude with a parachute jump by the Golden Knights, the Army’s demonstration and competition parachute team.
Members of the Golden Knights are slated to land and present a “flag to the POTUS on behalf of the Army”, as per reports.
Who will attend?
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the June 14 military parade.
Trump and US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll are among the VIPs to mark their presence. The Army has not released a list of attendees.
However, as per PBS News, the White House’s Instagram page shows a video from Army veteran and retired mixed martial arts fighter Tim Kennedy, who will be standing together with Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during the parade.
How much will it cost?
The parade is expected to cost the US military a whopping $45 million (Rs 388.14 crore), of which around $16 million is for repairing Washington streets damaged by tanks.
Trump defended the cost of the parade in an interview with NBC News in May, saying that the millions of dollars were “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
“We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it,” he added.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Army Secretary Driscoll said the parade could help boost recruitment.
“Our marketing budget we would spend to recruit those soldiers, I think our team believes that the investment of these dollars to tell that story will directly lead to a good, measurable, quantitative outcome for the Army,” he said. “It would be a massive tragedy to let this moment pass where we can tell this story and inculcate an entire generation of youth into this amazing story that is the United States Army.”
Will there be protests at Trump’s military parade?
Pro-democracy, labour and liberal activists have planned protests in Washington and all 50 US states, which will coincide with the military parade.
Several progressive groups will organise “ No Kings” protests around the US, with more than 1,500 rallies expected on Saturday. However, they will not hold a protest in Washington, instead organise the flagship event in Philadelphia.
The Women’s March group is set to hold “Kick Out the Clowns” rallies in several cities.
Federal law enforcement officials have said they are preparing for possible unrest near the Army’s birthday celebrations in the capital. “We have no intelligence about that happening here. But if it does, we have the resources to handle it,” McCool was quoted as saying by PBS News.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said that “those people who want to protest” are “going to be met with very big force.”
With inputs from agencies