DC leaders are pushing back hard tonight against President Trump's plans for a grand military parade through the city.
The DC Council tweeted on it's official page this morning that the schools are open, but the "Great Tank Parade" is "canceled." "Permanently." But officials admit that if the White House wants to go ahead, the city cannot stop it.
The last time the Pentagon staged a big military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue...we were celebrating the end of the first Persian Gulf War in 1991.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser noted caustically today that we're now mired in skirmishes around the globe...with no end in sight for America's longest war in Afghanistan.
"Usually when you see big parades, it's celebrating the end of a war. And I don't think that's been announced."
President Trump came up with the idea of a military parade through the capital after watching the Bastille Day parade in France.
"We're going to have to top it. Planes going over. Lots of military might," he told the French president.
The Pentagon is still trying to figure out what an American military parade would look like. "...the President has great affection and respect for the military. We'll put together some options and send them over to the White House for a decision," said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
"We can't afford a parade. Don't do it," responded DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
She says the city already bears a massive burden, and worries that a big military parade could cost millions and hurt military readiness.
"We would charge the federal government for each and every bit of expense we have to shoulder because of an unnecessary parade to feed Trump's ego," said Norton.
The Mayor says she's heard nothing from the Pentagon.
Would Abrams tanks chew up the pavement on Pennsylvania Avenue? Would the parade attract protesters? All unanswered questions. But the mayor says it's the optics that alarm her most. The optics of a military parade like they hold in dictatorships.
"What would it suggest about our country and the direction our country is going in?" she asked.
Even some Republicans are skeptical. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), said he could support a parade honoring veterans. But he said what he called a "Soviet style hardware display" would be "cheesy" and show weakness instead of strength.
Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-Louisiana), said when you're the most powerful nation on earth, you don't have to show off like Russia and China.
