It could be inauguration all over again.
Thunderstorms early Saturday evening over Washington, D.C. are threatening to literally rain on President Donald Trump’s parade.
On Thursday, Army spokesperson Steve Warren told The Times of London that if the weather gets too bad on Saturday the parade could get canned.
‘Rain won’t stop us, the tanks don’t melt, but if there’s lightning then that puts the crowd at risk … they will disperse the crowd and even cancel or postpone the parade,’ Warren said. ‘It will depend on the president, too, when he’s available.’
A White House spokesperson pressed that some show would go on.
‘Any changes to the Army Birthday Parade will be announced by the Department of Defense of America 250 Commission. No matter what, a historic celebration of our military servicemembers will take place!’ said deputy press secretary Anna Kelly to the Daily Mail.
Instead of doing a traditional daytime parade, organizers decided to have it kick off down Constitution Ave. at 6:30 p.m.
The parade itself will only last an hour – with a concert planned directly afterward followed by a fireworks display over the National Mall.
The event is to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary but also happens to be taking place on Trump’s 79th birthday.
Trump has long wanted to have a military-style parade, after seeing France’s Bastille Day festivities, which also marked the U.S.’s 100th anniversary of entering World War I, in July of 2017.
President Donald Trump’s birthday parade, which is marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, is being threatened by weather
A tank on the National Mall ahead of Saturday’s parade marking the 250th anniversary of the Army – and also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday
During his first term he was dissuaded from holding one over cost concerns.
The tanks are likely to beat up Washington, D.C.’s roads – and the federal government would need to pay district taxpayers back for the damage.
Instead, in 2019, the president held a ‘Salute to America’ on the Fourth of July in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where tanks were on display, and several flyovers occurred.
It drizzled that day, but the event was able to go on.
Saturday’s event kicks off more than a year’s worth of events ahead of the United States celebrating its sesquicentennial – as it will have been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The Army formed more than a year before the document’s signing.
Trump has been previewing the parade and the Army’s anniversary all week.
He visited Fort Bragg on Tuesday where he cheered on the troops – and also made the shocking announcement that he was reverting the names of seven military bases to those based off of Confederate soldiers, including Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The president has also threatened potential protesters – as demonstrations have broken out in cities all over the country over his ‘mass deportation’ plans.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday he said, ‘by the way, for those people who want to protest, they are going to be met with very big force.’
‘And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force,’ the president added.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had to defend Trump and say that he supported the First Amendment, which gives Americans the right to assemble peacefully and to protest.
An organization called ‘No Kings’ is organizing demonstrations across the country on June 14th, the day of the military parade.
‘No Kings’ planners have pushed potential demonstrators to not take to the streets in D.C. – where there is already a robust security response.
The White House, Capitol and certain roadways have been outlined with fencing ahead of Saturday’s events.
Instead ‘No Kings’ organizers have encouraged people to protest in Philadelphia or in suburban Maryland and Virginia, instead of D.C. proper.
Some Democrats have also pushed like-minded people online to RSVP for the military parade, only to be no-shows, so Trump’s crowds aren’t as robust as the president would like.
A similar tactic was organized during Trump’s controversial 2020 Tulsa rally, which was held indoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with many seats left empty.
Trump was forced to scale-back his inauguration plans in January due to weather.
The frigid temperatures forced the swearing-in ceremony to inside of the Capitol Rotunda, instead of the traditional West Front of the U.S. Capitol.
The president then held a rally-type event at the Capital One Arena, which houses D.C.’s hockey and basketball teams, before attending several indoor inaugural balls.