What's the message behind Trump's military parade?

Published June 3, 2025 at 9:16 AM EDT

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A Bradley Fighting Vehicle at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, July 3, 2019. It was part of President Trump's "Salute to America" Fourth of July celebration. He has expressed interest in a military since his first term.

In the past, most military parades in the U.S. were staged to signal the end of a war and welcome home of those who fought.

The last major military parade in the nation's capitol was in 1991. It marked the end of the Gulf War.

But the capital has not seen a military parade like the one planned by President Trump for June 14th in decades — a parade estimated to cost $45 million.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with historian Joshua Zeitz. He's a contributing editor for Politico Magazine and has written about where Trump's parade fits into the American tradition.

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