Critics savage Donald Trump’s Independence Day jamboree for ‘using military as a political prop’
- Plans for the July 4 celebration include an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber, Navy F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, Navy Blue Angels aerial acrobatics team and others
US President Donald Trump marshalled tanks, bombers and other machinery of war on Tuesday for a Fourth of July celebration that traditionally is light on military might, while critics accused him of using America’s military as a political prop.
Under White House direction, the Pentagon was scrambling to arrange for an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber and other warplanes to conduct flyovers of the celebration on the National Mall. There will be Navy F-35 and F-18 fighter jets, the Navy Blue Angels aerial acrobatics team, Army and coastguard helicopters and Marine V-22 Ospreys.
A small number of 60-ton Army Abrams battle tanks were sent to Washington by rail to be positioned on or near the National Mall, though the District of Columbia government fired back with its own verbal salvo.
“Tanks, but no tanks,” it tweeted, adding that the Pentagon itself said last year that a tank’s steel tracks could damage city roadways. Also scheduled to make appearances over the Mall are the presidential Air Force One and Marine One aircraft.
Trump, casting the extravaganza as a “Salute to America”, tweeted on Tuesday that military leaders are “thrilled” to participate.
