➤ Last Saturday, the US Army marked its 250th birthday with a huge parade in Washington, DC. The parade was organized for President Donald Trump, who was celebrating his 79th birthday. Saturday was also a day of protest, as millions of Americans rallied to show that they don’t want Mr. Trump to act like a king.
Last Saturday, the US Army marked its 250th birthday with a huge parade in Washington, DC. The parade was organized for President Donald Trump, who was celebrating his 79th birthday. Saturday was also a day of protest, as millions of Americans rallied to show that they don’t want Mr. Trump to act like a king.
The parade was meant to mark 250 years of the US Army, which was started on June 14, 1775 – before the US was even a country. Some people thought the parade was a good way to celebrate the Army’s birthday. “What better way to celebrate it than the 250th?” Mike Davis, an Army veteran, told NPR.
But holding a military parade has also been an important goal of Mr. Trump’s since 2017. Saturday’s parade was the first large military parade in the US since 1991, when the US Army returned from the Gulf War.
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Last Saturday, the US Army marked its 250th birthday with a huge parade in Washington, DC. The parade was organized for President Donald Trump, who was celebrating his 79th birthday. Above, Mr. Trump salutes soldiers during the parade in Washington, DC last Saturday.
As a military parade, the event was designed to show off US military power. The parade included tanks and other military vehicles, as well as helicopters, airplanes, and over 6,000 soldiers. The parade also included some historic military vehicles, and soldiers in uniforms from different periods in US history.
Though Mr. Trump said the event was focused on the Army and not his birthday, the crowd did stop to sing “Happy Birthday” to Mr. Trump. He was also given a specially folded US flag – something that’s usually only given to families of soldiers who have been killed.
Tens of thousands of people came out for the parade. But many others thought the parade was a waste of money. The parade was expected to cost the US government as much as $45 million. Some of that money will be needed to repair damage to roads in the US capital caused by the tanks and other heavy machinery.
Recently, Mr. Trump has been accused of using the army to support his own ideas, rather than the US. In a highly unusual move, Mr. Trump sent US soldiers and Marines to Los Angeles to face off against US citizens protesting there in early June.
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On Saturday, around 5 million Americans took part in protests against Mr. Trump and his actions. “No Kings” protests were held in over 2,000 locations across the US. Above, the “No Kings” protest in Philadelphia, which drew over 100,000 protesters..
On Saturday, around 5 million Americans took part in protests against Mr. Trump and his actions. “No Kings” protests were held in over 2,000 locations across the US. The protesters believe Mr. Trump has been acting like a king, by ruling with special orders, ignoring the courts, attacking those who disagree with him, and taking more power than the US Constitution gives to a president.
The protests, which were peaceful, were held in towns and cities across nearly every US state and territory, and even some foreign countries. Over 200 different groups came together to organize No Kings events.
Philadelphia, where over 100,000 people came out to protest, was chosen as the main protest site. Philadelphia is where the US Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. The Declaration of Independence told the British king at the time that the American colonies were no longer under his control.