AP NEWS has a report by Darlene Superville:
President Donald Trump isn’t taking “no tanks” for an answer on the Fourth of July.
He said Monday that a display of U.S. military tanks will be part of a special event he’s headlining July 4 in Washington, and an Associated Press photographer saw at least two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles on flatcars in a railyard at the southeastern edge of Washington.
Military police were guarding the vehicles, which were visible to passers-by on nearby paths.
A U.S. official told the AP that the military vehicles to be used in the July 4 event were being stored at the railyard….
...The Abrams tanks weigh more than 60 tons apiece and were been shipped on railroad freight cars, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the nearest Army base that has them. The White House declined to release more specific information.
There are other armored vehicles on railcars as well. (More photos at the AP link.) From the article, it appears current plans (subject to change since Trump is personally running the show) will be to have them set up as static displays, rather than having them in a parade.
I used to work next door to a National Guard armory that had a number of Vietnam era tanks, probably M48 Patton Tanks. They would occasionally be used in parades. I still remember seeing the tread marks they would leave behind in the asphalt. It’s one reason the military has been reluctant to use them in a parade in D.C. — there would inevitably be some damage to the road ways.
It appears the reality show president is determined to slap his brand all over the Fourth of July. Consider this part of his 2020 re-election campaign. (And don’t even ask what would happen if a Democratic president tried this.) This may have one consequence. It’s going to make George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” political abuse of the military seem tame by comparison.
From the AP article:
Trump plans to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial during his “Salute to America,” which has been added to the regular schedule of Independence Day events in the nation’s capital. The annual fireworks display will go off closer to the Lincoln Memorial instead of the Washington Monument, as has been the long-standing tradition.
The event is open to the public and free of charge, but a ticket-only area in front of the memorial is being set aside for VIPs, including members of Trump’s family, friends and members of the military, the White House said.
I wonder if anyone has told Trump what happened to Anwar Sadat at his last parade? I also wonder what would happen if people showed up for the Trumpfest at the Lincoln Memorial wearing these? There are all those fireworks nearby...