Members of the military stand as US President Donald Trump reviews the troops in Emancipation Hall during inauguration ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington, on January 20, 2025.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
An upcoming military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary — which coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday — could cost up to $45 million, the Army confirmed Thursday.
The parade on June 14, the day Trump turns 79, is slated to feature 6,600 soldiers, as well as 50 military aircraft and 150 vehicles, Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, a spokeswoman for the Army, told CNBC.
About 5,000 of the participating service members will arrive a few days before the parade and sleep in either the General Services Administration building or the Agriculture Department building, Castro said.
The spokeswoman confirmed the top-end price tag that NBC News reported earlier in May, though she noted that the final cost of the parade could end up between $25 million and $45 million.
Additional details about the parade were revealed earlier Thursday in a report by The Washington Post, which Castro verified.
Trump has expressed interest in a military parade through the nation’s capital stretching back to his first term as president. A parade scheduled for November 2018 was canceled in the wake of reporting about the high cost of staging such an event.
But in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that aired May 4, Trump said the cost of the forthcoming parade was “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
The parade is the grand finale of a series of events scheduled throughout the week leading up to 250th anniversary of the Army on June 14, 1775.
A fireworks display, military demonstrations and musical performances are also planned to complement the parade.
