White House Afraid No One Will Show Up To Military Parade

[Marilyn MonHoe 11,011]

 

President Donald Trump is about to force Washington D.C. to bend its July Fourth celebration to his will, complete with extra fireworks, military tanks that threaten the Lincoln Memorial's structural integrity, and a presidential speech whose “nonpolitical” tone is all but certain to go off the rails. But now the question is: How many people will actually show up? According to a Politico report Wednesday, the White House and Republican National Committee are worried that the event's last-minute nature will turn July Fourth into a repeat of Trump’s poorly-attended inauguration debacle, as barely any of the VIPs they're inviting to the festivities are expected to actually attend. “They started this too late and everyone has plans already,” Republican donor and Canary, LLC CEO Dan Eberhart told Politico. “Everyone will be there in spirit, but in reality, people planned their July Fourth activities weeks ago.”

While the event is expected to be attended by several Cabinet members and senior White House officials, none of the lawmakers or Trump donors contacted by Politico said they would be attending the Independence Day event. As my colleague Emily Jane Fox reported, the president won't even be able to rely on his family's company, as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner are all fleeing D.C. for the Hamptons. Instead, the White House is reportedly ginning up attendance by allowing staffers to enter a lottery to receive up to 10 tickets each—an unusually high number compared with the two to four tickets usually granted for White House events. “It’s not a very tough ticket to get,” a Republican close to the White House told Politico. “They’re not going to give it away to anyone off the street, but if you have any juice at all, you can probably get the tickets.” (The White House has not yet gotten desperate enough to open up the “nonpolitical” event to Democrats; though the R.N.C. has received tickets to distribute, the Democratic National Committee reportedly has not.)

The last-minute attendance woes are the latest bad press to befall Trump's desperate attempt to use July Fourth to live out his military parade dreams—or as he described it Wednesday, “the show of a lifetime.” In the days leading up to the festivities, reports of mismanagement have plagued the fireworks spectacle, which Trump is reportedly producing himself, as federal agencies desperately try to cater to Trump's every overblown whim. And it wouldn't be a Trump event without potential ethical violations and an astronomical cost to the American taxpayer. Critics have decried the event's use of $2.5 million in National Parks Service fees—a mere fraction of the total government funds being spent—while ABC News reports that one of the companies donating fireworks to the celebration, Phantom Fireworks, lobbied the Trump administration to back off its planned Chinese tariffs, which include fireworks. Trump later announced he'd hold off on the threatened tariffs—the same day as Phantom Fireworks's donation was announced. The president then made matters worse by tweeting praise for Phantom Fireworks and fireworks company Fireworks by Grucci, which ABC notes could be seen as a promotion that violates presidential ethics guidelines.

Now, with reports that attendance could be be sparse—not to mention the forecasted rain and thunderstorms—will all the effort and controversy be worth it? Not even the Trump team appears to be sure. “They are creating this thing from scratch, and I do not know if anyone knows how it will go off,” one White House aide told Politico Wednesday. “There are questions about the ticket distribution and who will show up. The weather might be bad. Heads are spinning.”

 

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/trump-july-4th-crowd-white-house

 

Trump showing off his dictator tendencies again

[Woolfsmck 2,763]

Trump's loyalists will...beyond that is sketchy

[The Carpenters 309]

While this is an extra waste of money, it doesn’t compare to the constant costs of transporting the president and his family. But the sheer narcissism of this would be glorious if it blows up in his face lol.

[FATCAT 60,899]

2 minutes ago, Woolfsmck said:

Trump's loyalists will...beyond that is sketchy

Yea it's ticketed so it's basically a campaign rally at taxpayer & millitary expense. Imagine how many service members have to be inside of a tank, in 95 degree weather, away from their families today. I'm sure they'd much rather be back at base spending the holiday relaxing.

[LeoFameMonster 1,592]

I hope it's a poor a turn out for trump.... but even more hope they turn out less on election day 

[Born To Slay 10,996]

10 minutes ago, hausga said:

tho i deffo don,t support trump anyway or all

but what's wrong with military parade?

aren't they a source of pride for any country or showing their nation's capability

just wondering

Doing these type of parades to show off fire power is a custom usually practiced by authoritarian regimes such as North Korea and therefore it’s not really considered to appropriate for free nations to trumpet fire power like this. 

[gabeoz 7,915]

17 minutes ago, hausga said:

tho i deffo don,t support trump anyway or all

but what's wrong with military parade?

aren't they a source of pride for any country or showing their nation's capability

just wondering

Mostly because of the way authoritarian nations use them as a way to consolidate their power, people are not a fan of free Western nations doing them. The thought of tanks rolling through D.C. is definitely makes many uncomfortable and draws comparisons. Not to mention when Nixon tried to throw one, people started swimming in the Lincoln memorial reflecting pool and then nazis showed up. 

[Born To Slay 10,996]

Just now, hausga said:

umm not really lol.

there's are different ways to perceive it

one way is mentioned by you to show authoritarian power which is true

but many countries also do to show their military capacity to show that they are fully ready to defend their nations

and give a middle finger to the enemy 

It’s most commonly associated with nations like the USSR, China and North Korea 

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/2/12/17003600/trump-military-parade-bastille-day-washington

[RAMROD 117,492]

People are still sleeping after binging Stranger Things 3 last night

  

[Woolfsmck 2,763]

25 minutes ago, hausga said:

tho i deffo don,t support trump anyway or all

but what's wrong with military parade?

aren't they a source of pride for any country or showing their nation's capability

just wondering

It like a geurilla chest thump...we don't need it .. other super powers already have some idea of US military...

It's resources that could be better spent

[gabeoz 7,915]

14 minutes ago, hausga said:

ok true and i know that

but again some just do as a source of pride and a series of entertainment

there are military parades in uk too like the annual Edinburgh military parade

doesn't that make uk authoritative?

 

Well, no. You also have to understand the social stigma and the political climate. The US generally just does not hold military parades, it usually is to celebrate the end of a war (with a couple exceptions, like Nixon). So a military parade for the fun of it is not going to sound appealing especially when the person throwing it is a highly polarizing President with controversial views/actions in foreign affairs, who has people very wary about his questionable capacity to lead as commander in chief. So in this case with Edinburgh, this is different because this a normal event that has been happening for the past century and the underlying reasoning isn't seen as controversial and/or politically motivated. 

[Diamonster 1,786]

47 minutes ago, Marilyn MonHoe said:

As my colleague Emily Jane Fox reported, the president won't even be able to rely on his family's company, as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner are all fleeing D.C. for the Hamptons.