Trump’s $90 Million Birthday Parade: A Vanity Project Dressed as Patriotism – and a Slap in the Face to Every American
“Trump’s Flag Day parade is a shameless $90 million display of power that tramples American values and spits in the face of struggling families.”
On June 14, Americans expect to honor Flag Day, a celebration of our nation’s ideals and the birthday of the U.S. Army. Instead, President Donald Trump plans to turn that day into a personal spectacle: a grand military parade in Washington, D.C. that just happens to fall on his own 79th birthday. He claims it’s to celebrate the flag and the Army’s 250th anniversary, but make no mistake, this parade is about glorifying one man, not uniting a nation.
As an American and as a lawyer who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, I am deeply troubled by this plan. It’s a flashy pageant of presidential ego that tramples on our values, drains our coffers, and does nothing to strengthen our country. Everyday taxpayers, including many who voted for Trump, are being told to foot the enormous bill for what amounts to a vanity project. We should all be asking: Is this really what America stands for?
An Ego-Driven Spectacle, Not a Patriotic Celebration
President Trump’s insistence on a Flag Day military parade is not born out of some sudden surge of patriotism. It was inspired by France’s Bastille Day parade he attended in 2017, a dramatic display of military might that left him awestruck. Ever since, he’s wanted to replicate that spectacle here in the U.S. to bask in the pomp and pageantry. But France’s parade celebrates a unifying national holiday; Trump’s version is timed perfectly with his birthday, making it feel more like a personal birthday bash with tanks and flyovers as party favors.
Think about it: past U.S. presidents of both parties have celebrated occasions like the Army’s anniversaries or national holidays without turning them into self-serving shows. Large-scale military parades just aren’t part of American tradition, and for good reason. We usually reserve them for the end of major wars or conflicts, to honor troops coming home victorious, not to honor a politician in power.
By staging a massive parade in his own honor, Trump is bucking American tradition and embracing something we typically see only in authoritarian regimes. The message is clear: this isn’t about the flag or the Army at all; it’s about Trump’s personal glory. That’s not patriotism, that’s hubris and it’s disgusting.
Even some who normally support the president have expressed unease. They know such a spectacle echoes the displays of strongmen, not the humility of true public servants. In 2018, when Trump first floated the idea of a military parade, one U.S. senator (a fellow Republican, no less) warned it could look like a “Soviet-style” show of force. Another lawmaker bluntly called it a “fantastic waste of money to amuse the president.” They were right then, and their words ring even truer now.
$90 Million of Taxpayers’ Money, Wasted
What does it cost to stroke one leader’s ego with a parade? Early estimates say up to $90 million – yes, you read that correctly. Ninety. Million. Dollars. That’s your taxpayer money. It’s like setting fire to your paycheck so someone else can watch themselves on TV. In a time of ballooning deficits and real economic hardship for many Americans, this expenditure is not just extravagantly unnecessary, it’s outright offensive.
Our national deficit is at a historic high, and everyday people are struggling to pay for groceries, gas, and rent. Yet this president wants nearly a hundred million dollars from our treasury to fund his personal parade float of military hardware down Pennsylvania Avenue.
To put this in perspective, consider what else we could do with $90 million, money that comes directly out of our pockets and communities. Instead of paying for a one-day ego trip, those funds could be used to tackle urgent problems that actually matter to Americans. For example, that same $90 million could be used to:
Feed hungry families across America. Millions of Americans, including children, go to bed hungry each year. A fraction of this parade budget could bolster food assistance programs or food banks and put meals on family tables instead of fuel in parade tanks.
Lower prescription drug costs. Americans pay some of the highest prices for medicine in the world, forcing too many to ration pills or forgo treatment. What if we used this money to help seniors afford life-saving medications or invest in clinics that provide affordable care?
Expand affordable housing. Across the country, from big cities to rural towns, families struggle with rising rents and a lack of affordable homes. $90 million could build new housing units or repair existing homes, giving hundreds of families a safe, stable place to live.
Fund public education and school lunch programs. Many schools are underfunded, and countless children rely on free or reduced-price lunches at school as their one steady meal. This money could hire more teachers, buy updated textbooks, or ensure no child is denied a healthy lunch because their family can’t pay.
Support healthcare and mental health services for veterans. Our veterans have sacrificed for us, yet many aren’t getting the care they need. $90 million could be channeled into the VA for more doctors, counselors, and clinics, or for targeted programs to reduce veteran homelessness and suicide. That’s a far more genuine way to “honor the military” than parading troops on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Fix crumbling infrastructure in small towns. In countless communities, bridges are aging, water pipes are bursting, and roads are full of potholes. Imagine the impact of investing $90 million to rebuild local infrastructure, creating jobs and making towns safer, instead of rolling heavy tanks that could actually damage our city streets during a parade.
Protect Social Security and Medicare. These earned-benefit programs face funding challenges, and seniors worry about their future. While $90 million won’t solve Social Security’s shortfall, every bit helps. We could strengthen oversight to cut waste or fraud, or simply shore up trust funds – showing we value our elders’ security rather than squandering resources on vanity projects.
Each of these areas represents a real, tangible investment in the American people. Spending this kind of money on a fleeting parade does nothing to feed a child, heal a sick person, or improve a town’s economy. It’s money literally diverted away from your needs and priorities to serve one man’s desire for pomp and circumstance. It’s a betrayal of American priorities, a slap in the face to every family trying to make ends meet and every community waiting on promised improvements that always seem to lack funding.
Let’s call this what it is: a shameful misuse of taxpayer dollars. If you voted for Donald Trump because you believed he would put America First, ask yourself, whose “America” is being put first by this parade? Because it’s certainly not the everyday Americans who could have benefited from that $90 million. It’s not the working parent struggling with bills, not the small business owner trying to stay afloat, and not the farmer facing tough times. Instead, it’s the president’s own image that’s being elevated, at our expense.
Every flare of a jet, every tank that rumbles by, comes out of the pocket of the truck driver in Pennsylvania, the teacher in Ohio, the nurse in Michigan, the veteran in Florida. Even Trump’s loyal supporters are paying for this extravaganza, whether they realize it or not. This is not what they voted for, they voted for better jobs, safer streets, and a stronger country, not a costly birthday parade.
A Pattern of Trump Putting Self Before Country
Unfortunately, this parade is not an isolated incident. It fits a pattern of President Trump treating taxpayer money like his personal party fund. Consider his frequent trips to his private golf resorts. Every weekend jaunt to Mar-a-Lago or his club in New Jersey costs taxpayers on the order of $3–4 million for security, travel, and support. He has spent roughly 25% of his presidency on the golf course at his own properties, living luxuriously on the public dime.
Each time Air Force One flies to his resort so he can tee off, we pay the bill. By some estimates, his golf habit has already burned through tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in just a few months of this term alone. I shared Trump’s golfing details here.
Let that sink in: while many Americans spent their weekends in 2025 figuring out how to stretch a paycheck, the president was spending our money playing golf and schmoozing at his luxury clubs. Now he wants to spend even more on a massive parade for himself. This is a man who preaches about “America First” – yet his actions put himself first, America’s needs last.
The parade, in fact, lays bare a troubling hypocrisy. President Trump claims to love and honor our military. Yet true honor isn’t shown by forcing soldiers to march for your glory, it’s shown by how you treat them the rest of the time. This is a president who couldn’t be bothered to attend a ceremony for fallen American soldiers returning home in coffins earlier this year, because it interfered with his golf weekend. But now he expects to use those same soldiers as props in his festive procession.
It’s beyond ironic, it’s infuriating. You don’t support our troops by turning them into stage actors in a vanity pageant. You support them by making sure they have the resources they need, by showing up when it counts, and by thinking twice before wasting $90 million that could improve their lives once they take off the uniform.
America Doesn’t Have Kings – And We Don’t Parade Like They Do
When King Louis XIV of France said “I am the state,” he embodied the arrogance of absolute monarchy, an attitude we rejected at our nation’s founding. America was born of a revolution against kings, crowns, and unchecked power. Our Founders deliberately designed a republic with no monarch and no grandiose displays for any single leader.
More than two centuries later, we still hold firmly to the principle that the President is not a king. That’s why military parades in honor of a leader have always been an uncomfortable idea here. We simply don’t do what dictators do to glorify themselves. We don’t drape our leaders in military might as a show of their personal power, because our military’s loyalty is to the nation and the Constitution, not to any one person.
Look around the world: the countries famous for big military parades are ones like Russia, China, and North Korea. In those places, such parades are choreographed to project strength, to make the ruler appear invincible, to intimidate foes and sometimes their own people. That is not the American way.
Our strength is real, we know our military is second to none, but we have never felt the need to roll tanks past the Capitol to prove it. We trust in our democratic institutions and the quiet courage of our service members, not theatrical muscle-flexing. In fact, the last time the U.S. held something close to this kind of parade was after the Gulf War in 1991, to honor troops who served. And even that was about thanking soldiers, not aggrandizing the president.
By pushing this parade, Trump is attempting to import a spectacle of authoritarianism onto American soil. It’s chilling, and Americans across the country are right to be concerned. In recent months, a “No Kings” protest movement has sprung up, with citizens rallying in cities and towns to remind the nation that we have no kings in America.
They carry signs that say “No Kings” and chant messages echoing the spirit of 1776, when we declared we’d no longer be subject to one man’s rule. These everyday patriots see clearly what’s happening: a president who fancies himself a bit of an emperor, and they are pushing back the American way, with voices raised in protest, with the truth, and with a refusal to quietly accept a wannabe coronation.
The Flag Day parade has rightly been a flashpoint for these protests. It feels like an attempted coronation — an event befitting an emperor’s birthday, not an American president doing the people’s business. The very idea has united people of different political stripes in opposition. They know that draping a president in pageantry like a conquering hero undermines the very foundation of our democracy.
Our leaders are meant to be public servants, temporary stewards of power, not eternal rulers to be fawned over with trumpets and marching battalions. When crowds chant “No kings, no coronations!” at rallies, they are defending an essential American truth: the presidency is a job, not a throne.
Democracy in Danger: Trump’s Authoritarian Impulses
This parade controversy doesn’t stand alone; it sits atop a mountain of red flags about President Trump’s view of power and the presidency. His disregard for constitutional limits has been evident in his words and deeds. He has mused that Article II of the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever” he wants as president, a claim that would make our Founders’ blood run cold.
From attacking independent judges, to undermining Congress’s oversight, to trying to overturn a lawful election, Trump has shown contempt for the checks and balances that keep any president from becoming a tyrant. A massive, self-congratulatory military parade fits into that pattern: it’s about projecting personal power, as if to say “look what I command”, rather than humbly observing the limits of the office.
His rhetoric has been dangerously divisive. Rather than uniting Americans, he often pits us against each other, red vs. blue, urban vs. rural, one faith or ethnicity against another. He bullies and berates those who disagree, labels the free press “enemies,” and casts fellow citizens as traitors for not supporting him. Over years of this behavior, our national unity has frayed.
A Flag Day that should bring Americans together instead risks becoming a day of deep division: his supporters cheering on the parade as detractors protest in the streets. Is that what Flag Day should be? Absolutely not. Flag Day is about the American flag, which belongs to all of us, not a partisan prop, not a backdrop for a leader’s personal parade.
America’s international standing is also at stake. Our allies have watched with concern as Trump’s behavior edges closer to that of authoritarian leaders. They see a president more interested in photo-ops and applause than the hard work of diplomacy and leadership.
A gaudy military parade in Washington will be seen around the world, and it won’t project the image of a confident democracy. Instead, it will look like we’re insecure, that we need to convince ourselves of our greatness with a flashy show. It’s the kind of thing we used to critique other nations for. How can we stand as a beacon of democracy when we adopt the trappings of authoritarian pageantry? Our friends abroad will shake their heads, and our adversaries will chuckle that America is losing its own script.
Most importantly, the future of our democracy depends on how we respond to moments like this. Today it’s a parade; tomorrow it could be something even more audacious. When leaders test the waters of autocracy, whether by celebrating themselves with public funds, or ignoring laws, or disparaging the constitutional order, it’s up to the people to draw a line.
If we shrug and say “It’s just one parade,” we risk normalizing the erosion of democratic norms bit by bit. What comes next? Maybe attempts to use the military for political purposes beyond parades. Maybe undermining elections under the guise of “patriotic” celebrations of power. We have to hold the line now, because democracy doesn’t usually disappear all at once; it slips away with each small act of complacency, each time citizens look away from something wrong because it’s dressed up in red, white, and blue.
Stand Up: Country Over Ego, Democracy Over Spectacle
The good news is that we are not powerless. The American people can stop this misguided parade of ego, or at least make clear that it does not have our consent. How? By speaking up, spreading the word, and refusing to be dazzled by the show.
We can demand that our elected representatives put a stop to wasteful vanity projects like this. We can support local and national officials who courageously say “No” to spending our money on a presidential birthday pageant. And ultimately, we can use our most powerful tool, our vote, to ensure we have leaders who value country over self.
Here are a few simple truths to remember and share with anyone who will listen:
“No kings” in America means no king’s parades. We don’t celebrate leaders as if they’re royalty. We celebrate the nation, the people, and the principles that truly make America great.
$90 million for a parade is $90 million not spent on Americans. Every dollar wasted on this display is a dollar that could have helped a family, a veteran, a student, or a senior citizen. Our money should work for us, not pay for confetti in D.C.
Patriotism isn’t a show – it’s a service. Flying flags and marching soldiers mean nothing if our leaders won’t serve the people’s real needs. True patriotism is making sure no American goes hungry, no veteran is forgotten, and no child is left uneducated, not throwing yourself a festival of force.
This is not normal, and we shouldn’t accept it. If something feels off about this parade, that’s because it is. It’s a break from our traditions and values. We have to call it out and remember it’s okay to expect better from our leaders.
Each of us can be an ambassador for these points. Talk to your friends, your family, your coworkers. Ask them how they feel about paying for a parade when there are pressing needs at home. Ask if this feels like American leadership or more like a scene from a dictator’s playbook. These conversations matter. They plant the seeds of awareness and, ultimately, action.
In the end, vigilance and participation are the guardians of our democracy. We must stay alert to actions that prioritize a leader’s ego over the public good. We must be ready to peacefully protest and make our voices heard, just as Americans are doing with the “No Kings” rallies.
We must show up at the ballot box to choose leaders who remember that public service is about service, not self-celebration. And we must teach our children the difference, so that the next generation cherishes the flag not as a prop to wave in a parade for one man, but as a symbol of liberty and justice for all.
Flag Day is meant to honor the American flag, which stands for unity, liberty, and sacrifice, the sacrifice of those who fought under it, and the unity of all who live under it. To turn that day into a personal coronation is to betray what the flag represents.
We, the people, cannot stay silent as our values are perverted in plain sight. This June 14, let’s reclaim Flag Day. Instead of applauding a hollow parade, let’s stand up for the real America – the America where no one is above the law or above the people, where leadership is earned through service and humility, not flaunted with taxpayer-funded fanfare.
It’s often said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Today, that vigilance means calling out this $90 million sham for what it is and insisting on better. It means reminding our leaders that America has no kings, only public servants. And it means coming together, across party lines and personal differences, to defend the idea that our government of the people, by the people, for the people must never be turned into a stage for one person’s vanity.
So wave your flag proudly on Flag Day, not because the president commands it in his parade, but because you believe in the republic for which it stands. Speak out and demand that our tax dollars go to feeding families, healing the sick, housing the homeless, educating our kids, and caring for our veterans, the things that truly make us strong. Let’s pledge that we will hold our leaders accountable to those priorities.
In the United States of America, the power belongs to the people, not to any one man with a title and a flashy parade. It’s up to us to prove it. By rejecting this ego-driven display and focusing on real needs, we affirm what makes our country exceptional. No matter how loud the tanks roar or how high the jets fly on June 14, the voice of the people – our voice – can and must be louder.
This Flag Day, let’s not cheer for a man’s self-aggrandizing parade. Let’s use that voice to say “Enough. Put country before self.” And let’s back that call with action, by voting, by volunteering, by engaging in our democracy. That’s how we ensure that American unity, decency, and common sense prevail over ego and extravagance.
Mitch Jackson, Esq. | links
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