The true cost of Trump’s dictator parade seems to keep getting worse

Donald Trump’s plans for a massive, expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., already seemed absurd when juxtaposed against his administration’s mass firings at federal agencies and his plans to institute deep cuts to federal programs many Americans rely on. But the true cost of the parade seems to keep getting worse. The president recently told NBC News’ Kristen Welker that the June 14 parade’s price tag — which could reach $45 million — would be “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.” But the actual value of hosting a parade — which, in a fashion reminiscent of dictatorships, will feature dozens of military vehicles and thousands of service members — is debatable at best. And NBC News reported recently on some of the destruction that the June 14 parade — a seemingly frivolous pet project to celebrate 250 years of the U.S. Army that just so happens to fall on Trump’s birthday — stands to inflict on Washington’s streets. And that’s taxpayer money being spent as Trump withholds tens of millions of dollars allocated for things like climate change studies and other research grants, or any number of federal programs that stand to benefit a large number of Americans — certainly more so than a military parade. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has been sounding the alarm for months on the parade’s potential destruction, saying in April that military tanks “would not be good,” adding: “If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads.” Republicans have been eager to use their federal power over Washington — due to it not being an official state — no matter what the mayor says. In March, Bowser said her decision to paint over a D.C. plaza honoring the Black Lives Matter movement came amid pressure from the White House, suggesting she had acquiesced because there are “bigger fish to fry.” And now House Republicans — who have refused to address a $1 billion funding shortfall they created for the district — are trying to pass a law that would roll back voting rights in D.C. as well. All of this appears to be aligned with Trump’s declaration that the federal government should “take over” Washington, using language befitting the leader of an occupying military. And his massive, expensive and literally destructive military parade — all at taxpayers’ expense — seems like it would be a crowning achievement in that mission.