President Donald Trump’s military parade in DC is likely to cost nearly as much as the now canceled military exercise with South Korea that Trump called “tremendously expensive” and said cost “a fortune,” three US defense officials tell CNN.
The parade, which is now scheduled to take place on November 10, is currently estimated to cost approximately $12 million, the officials said. One official called the number “a planning figure,” saying cost estimates could still change as planning develops.
“We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith - which both sides are!” Trump tweeted in June following his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
North Korea had long sought an end to the exercises, which it says are provocative. US military leaders have said the exercises are necessary to maintain the readiness of US troops in South Korea.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters earlier this month that the now-cancelled US-South Korea Freedom Guardian Exercise was estimated to cost approximately $14 million.
“The intent for the parade,” is to coincide with the 100th anniversary of World War I, Manning said.
The war ended on November 11, 1918 and France’s President Emmanuel Macron plans to host world leaders for a parade marking the centenary of the war’s end.
Trump proposed the DC parade shortly after attending a Bastille Day military parade in Paris.
CNN previously reported that the parade would focus on celebrating veterans and involve US troops in period uniforms as well as US military aircraft but no heavy vehicles like tanks in order to prevent damage to infrastructure.