Pothole repair is about to be big business in Washington, D.C. as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday celebrations get underway. Around 9,000 soldiers, 130 tanks, artillery launchers, and other vehicles, plus 50 aircraft—from WWII-era B-52 bombers to special operations-style Black Hawks—will parade through the nation’s capital as a tribute to the country’s military.
It just so happens that the date of the parade, Saturday, June 14, is both the 250-year anniversary of the U.S. Army and Trump’s birthday—a coincidence POTUS seemed to attribute to divine intervention during his Memorial Day speech.
Trump was desperate to throw a military parade during his first term, and even told French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 that his own display would outshine the Bastille Day celebrations. Budget caution, road repairs, and the dictatorial optics put a halt to that idea then, but this time around, no one is saying no to the president.
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That is even as new estimates reveal that the total cost for the event is ballooning. Army estimates suggest the flexing of might will likely tally between $25 million and $45 million. The true costs, however, could be far higher, given the 2017 plan was estimated at $92 million, according to the Associated Press, although that figure was disputed by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
As much as $16 million has been earmarked for filling in the damage left by tanks rumbling down civilian streets, according to U.S. military officials. Steel plates at least an inch thick will be laid across sections of the route where M1A1 Abrams tanks, each weighing around 140,000 pounds, and other treaded vehicles will make turns. Similar protection will not be laid out along straight sections of the roadway.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has previously voiced her concerns about damage to city streets. “Military tanks on our streets would not be good,” she said at an April 7 news conference. “If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied by many millions of dollars to repair the roads.”
She later said that the city would likely be on the hook for the repairs and would have to petition the Pentagon for reimbursement. “These are, for the most part, local streets, and if they’re rendered unusable, we have to make them usable,” she told reporters on May 29.
“Probably we would fix it and then go seek our money from the Fed,” she said. “That gives me some concern about fronting costs and waiting for them to get back.”
The Army, for its part, does not seem concerned. Col. Jesse Curry, director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, has said “We’re not expecting any damage to the route,” while Army spokesperson Steve Warren said they will pay for any damage.
