Trump Won’t Get His Military Parade, Not Right Away…
None Of The Stories We Saw Has Any Explanation Of Who Made The Decision, Why It Was Made, And Why Trump Isn’t Publicly Pushing Back Against It In Light Of The Fact That It Seemed To Be Such An Immense Priority For Him
Update: In early morning Tweets, Trump both confirms the cancellation, and blames it on “poorly” run local D.C. government gouging him on the price. Says he’ll go back to Paris instead.
The only hints came from several news organizations quoting confidential sources within the Pentagon, who say the costs of holding that parade have ballooned astronomically from what the White House originally said. According to CNBC, the price tag had grown to $92-million vs. the $12-million projected just a couple of weeks ago. That sum would mostly go to temporarily relocating personnel and materiel for the parade, in addition to security.
But while Trump says he prides himself on always coming in “ahead of schedule and under budget”, he’s been willing to go way over initial projections on items of import, such as his wall. Then again, the border wall isn’t really getting built yet either. And as is the case with “the wall”, the parade too could still happen, just at a date next year.
So is his failure in pulling this together some kind of turning point? Or a common sense collaboration between Chief of Staff John Kelly (a former Marine General) and the Defense Department that they were someone able to sell Trump on?
