Trump won't get any military tanks for a planned Veterans Day parade

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

President Donald Trump.

• The Pentagon reportedly released a memo detailing a military parade that is said to be in the works for Veterans Day.
• The memo states that the parade will not include tanks, but will include aircraft.
• Trump will reportedly be surrounded by veterans and Medal of Honor recipients during the event.

The Pentagon reportedly released a memo detailing a military parade scheduled for Veterans Day, according to a CNN report.

The event will commemorate the armed forces spanning multiple eras, from the Revolutionary War to the present day, according to the memo. The parade will also reportedly integrate with Washington, DC's Veterans Day parade and emphasize "the price of freedom."

Trump will be surrounded by veterans and Medal of Honor recipients during the parade, which will run from the White House to the Capitol, CNN said.

The memo reportedly said the parade would not include tanks, but it would feature what was described as "wheeled vehicles," according to CNN.

The Pentagon is believed to have taken into consideration the damage that military tanks would have caused to local infrastructure. Just one M1 Abrams tank, for example, weighs nearly 137,000 pounds. The average passenger car weighs about 4,000 pounds.

News of the absence of tanks may comfort local officials who feared the damage that such a vehicle could cause to local streets. Following the initial reports in February that Trump wanted to stage a military parade, local municipalities weighed in: "Tanks but No Tanks!," the District of Columbia's city council tweeted.

"We would always be concerned about the impact on the city, the impact on safety, the impact on pulling personnel, the impact on our roadways, and quite frankly, the attention it would attract," District of Columbia mayor Muriel Bowser said in The Washington Post. "Usually when you see big military parades, it's celebrating an end of a war, and I don't think that's been announced."

The parade could involve a "heavy air component" that might include military aircraft flying at the end of the parade, CNN reported.

In remembrance of US service members from previous conflicts, the parade may also include older aircraft "as available," and period-specific uniforms.

Trump's desire for a parade was reportedly triggered by a French military parade he attended in July 2017, in honor of Bastille Day. Trump was met with a grand display of military vehicles and troops, to which he later noted to French President Emmanuel Macron that "it was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen."

"We're going to have to try to top it," Trump reportedly joked to Macron at the UN General Assembly in September.

Some lawmakers criticized the idea due to its cost and implication, Some initial estimates show that the parade could range from $3 million to $50 million

"I was stunned by it to be quite honest," Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California said in February. "I mean, we have a Napoleon in the making here."

"It's not our style, it's not the way we do business, and I really object to it," Speier continued. "And I think it's going to cost a lot of money. So what's really in it for the American people?"