the DON JONES INDEX…
	GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED 6/19/25... 14,973.18 6/12/25... 14,964.48 6/27/13... 15,000.00
(THE DOW JONES INDEX: 6/19/25... 42,171.66; 6/12/25... 42,865.77; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

LESSON for JUNE 19th, 2025 – “I YAM YOUR FATHER!”

Wikipedia’s depiction of Darth Vader’s famous revelation includes coverage of the prequel trilogy that chronicles Vader's childhood as “a precocious human slave named Anakin Skywalker”, his subsequent liberation by the Jedi Order, and young adulthood as a morally conflicted Jedi Knight, under the mentorship of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Secretly lured into the Sith warrior cult by the Galactic Republic politician Palpatine, Skywalker abandons the Jedi Order and, during a duel with Kenobi, is severely mutilated and thereafter transformed into the cyborg whom Palpatine rebrands as the Sith lord Darth Vader. “He serves the Emperor for over two decades, hunting down the remaining Jedi, including Kenobi, and attempting to crush the rebels who oppose the new Empire. Finally, when Palpatine tries to kill Vader's son Luke, the Sith lord turns against his master, leading to the mutual destruction of Palpatine and Vader, which effectively brings the Empire to its end.”

Another WikiLeak depicts Mrs. Vader as Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke Skywalker and his twin sister Leia Organa, and the grandfather of Ben Solo (later known as Kylo Ren).[b Padme first appeared in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace as the teenage queen of the fictional planet Naboo. “In the following two films of the prequel trilogy, Padmé becomes a member of the Galactic Senate and secretly marries Anakin Skywalker, then a Jedi Knight. Anakin's fear of losing Padmé drives him toward the dark side of the Force, which results in his transformation into Darth Vader.

Padmé eventually dies after giving birth to twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Natalie Portman portrays Padmé in all three prequel films. In addition to films, Padmé appears in animated series, novels, comics and video games.

When filming the scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which Vader confesses he is Luke's father, actor and bodybuilder David Prowse was given modified dialogue to read that did not exist in the script. “He was known for repeatedly leaking information to the public, and the filmmakers wanted to keep Vader's revelation a secret until the film was released.” Prowse was asked to read the line "Obi-Wan killed your father" instead of "No, I am your father."[45] Only the director, the producers, and Mark Hamill knew the actual line, which was dubbed in later by Jones.[45][46] Prowse did not know the real line until he viewed the finished film.[47]

The weird, wild – sort of long weekend... beginning with Friday the Thirteenth, continuing through the joint birthday parties for Donnie (79^th) and the American Army (250^th) fumbled on to Father’s Day, and then the President’s journey to the G-7 summit in Canada which collapses and exploded like the latest rocket set off by a now-forgotten Elon Musk.

With nothing of substance transpiring in Kananaskis, Alberta, Trump/Darth addressed the now-pressing topic of Iranian nukes and Israeli objectives

Carney probably saw it coming, but that didn’t prevent him from resenting the American exit, nor were the rest of the left-behinds left in better moods. Bluest of all was probably Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who might have thought the tainted air would call back to America’s mind the iniquities and crimes of the Russian imperial dance and, perhaps, enhance Trump’s nascent understanding of how Bad Vlad had played him so as to commence at least a more neutral stance.

But, as POTUS would respond by throwing a little dogpound of villainous wizards (and, also, a few countries whose sins against America were largely confined to the color of their populations)... “No go, Toto!”

Back in the U.S.A. once more and breathing the fresh air of Washington, Trump told the scriveners how he’d told Bad Vlad back in the U.S.S.R. that he’d wanted Russia (and, just for the helluvit, China too) in the G-7 (G-8? 9?) because that would, perhaps, lead to peace in our times. Or not.

Nothing of substance having transpired in Canada Trump/Darth now had the time and the temper to address the now-pressing topic of Iranian nukes and Israeli objectives

He could declaim to the populace that he had not yet made up his mind about murdering the murderous Ayatollah Khameini in Tehran (or just standing on the sidelines applauding as Israelis did the deed) or about committing a few of his multi-ton clusterfucking bombs to the excavation and annihilation of Iran’s most deeply buried nuke farm in the mounts of Fodrew.

He also had a few words for most of the rest of the dark world... even for Egypt, who would be a critical peacemaker in any Palestinian solution... an expansion of his travel ban as would immediately quash and quell any smell of a two, or three or more-state MidEastern peace process.

Last month, the Trump White House shared a graphic image of Trump, “veiny biceps and other inhuman muscles bulging, holding a red light saber in celebration of May the Fourth — an informal Star Wars holiday and pun on “May the Force be with you.” (Rolling Stone, May 4^th ATTACHMENT TWO) Meanwhile, the administration’s chief Border Patrol agent posted his own video depicting the agency as Darth Vader killing rebel soldiers.

“Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy,” the White House posted on social media alongside the likely AI-generated image. “You’re not the Rebellion — you’re the Empire. May the 4th be with you.”

Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, took a clip from Star Wars spinoff Rogue One where Darth Vader massacres rebel forces. Star Wars Stoners quickly pointed out that Trump’s red light saber “suggests he is a member of the Empire led by the Sith, bad guys in the films who practice the dark side of the Force.”

Bovino replied, defending the artistic choices: “I think ole Darth had the ultimate situational awareness against threats to the homeland. So do we which is why our border is the most controlled now than ever before.”

If there is a difference between Don and Darth, it would have to lie in character and competency.

Vader may be evil, but he’s all business... at least where the business is killing. Whereas Trump seeks accolades and admiration, the Jedi-turned-Sith just picks up his red light saber and gets down to business which may inspire POTUS to jump into the Iran/Israeli war.

Early May also saw the genesis of Trump’s military parade celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the American army (as well as his own birthday) as White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley told Fox News Digital.that Trump was planning an historic celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday “that will honor generations of selfless Americans who have risked everything for our freedom," (ATTACHMENT THREE)

The parade came after Trump, in January, signed an executive order creating "Task Force 250," which is focused on coordinating the plans and activities celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence. The 250th anniversary of America's founding is July 4, 2026.

"We love our military and take great pride in honoring our warfighters," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Digital. "In celebration of 250 years of the U.S. Army, we will throw the biggest and most beautiful military parade in our nation's history." 

Meanwhile, the task force is coordinating "the plans and activities of federal agencies for an extraordinary celebration of the 250th Anniversary of American Independence” next year, also referencing the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s "Give Me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in March, the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s famous ride in April and the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 

Task Force 250 was managed by 25-year-old former Fox & Friends producer Ariel Abergel, a validated member of Hegseth Youth who previously served as driver for the DefSec during winter in Iowa.

Critics, howsoever, contended that America250 — “which is meant to put on non-political events overseen by a bipartisan commission and backed by Congressional spending”—was “hijacked” to prop up the president.

“It is unfortunate that what was meant to unite the country and honor its history has been twisted into yet another scheme for his own personal gain,” Democrat Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is a member of the Commission, said in a statement to the Daily Beast.

A list of donors on the America250 website is filled with corporations that have sought to align themselves with Trump, “including UFC (run by Trump ally Dana White); Palantir (the tech company co-founded by JD Vance benefactor Peter Thiel); and Amazon (headed by Jeff Bezos).”

But, according to the Beast, Ariel is an old man compared to the 22 year old Thomas Fulgate, the former gardener appointed to head up the Department of Homeland Security terror prevention team.

And it would seem that he, at least, has prevented the mayhem and monstrosities of a rival to “No Kings”... the Kick Out the Clowns campaign, which will feature activists holding street circuses to highlight what it says is the “absurdity” of the Trump administration.

Saturday, before the parade, the Guardian U.K.’s Robert Tait set aside the Brits’ usual left wing diatribes to delve into the lore and legend of military parades “from Mesopotamia to Maga.”

“Mesopotamian emperors decorated their palaces and citadels with friezes portraying heroic conquests. Portraits would display a massive potentate striding ahead of his troops and crushing on his opponents’ skulls,” Tait described past parades. (ATTACHMENT FOUR)

“Military parades were also integral rituals of the Roman Empire, where generals and emperors who had won battles would march from the field of Mars into the temple of Jupiter, witnessed by thousands of adoring peasants.

“The looted possessions of conquered nations were said to be conveyed in chariots, while abducted barbarians were dragged along in chains.” Slaves were encouraged to murmur “Memento mori” (remember that you will die) to their captors, it is said, as part of a drama supposed to link the Roman public to its leaders.

Roman rituals were later adopted by European countries as they evolved into nation states “and sought to project images of power and military potency” especially in Bismarck’s Prussia. Britain’s Trooping the Colour, held on the birthday King Charles, coincidentally “takes place on Saturday, which is also Trump’s 79th birthday.” Russia’s grand parade takes place on May 9^th every year, celebrating victory over Germany “while the national day parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square – marking the anniversary of the Communist regime’s ascent to power – is now a once-a-decade affair but used to occur more regularly.”

The next blowout will occur in October, 2029 when the regime turns 80. North and South Korea both hold varying military celebrations while GUK also explained that Trump’s grand vision was apparently triggered “by having watched a Bastille Day parade alongside the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris – his administration organized a Salute to America event to coincide with the 4 July celebrations in 2019.”

"This would make great television," said a media executive in the company of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his top communications adviser, Col. Dave Butler as they all enjoyed last June’s "Twilight Tattoo" – where soldiers from ceremonial units reenacted the history of the Army, complete with Revolutionary War garb, music, theatrical vignettes and military pageantry, all meant to serve as a kind of salute to Army soldiers and their families.

After President Donald Trump took office and the June 14 birthday was getting closer, the Army began to toss around more ideas, according to an ABC report (June 14^th, ATTACHMENT FIVE)

Butler said he doesn't remember who first broached the idea of turning the Army's show into a parade. “But once the idea was floated, no one seemed to push back.

“By June, the Army had a plan of what they would include: 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, 50 aircraft flying overhead including World War II-era planes and high-tech weaponry like rocket launchers.

"We wanted to reintroduce this nation's Army to the American people," Butler said. "To do that, we thought we needed to be in their living rooms and on their phones. We needed something that would catch the national eye."

But Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Il) said the $45M cost “would be better spent on helping troops pay for essentials like child care,” and, noting the conjunction of the Army birthday with Trump’s own 79^th, and said... perhaps fairly, perhaps not... that "Donald Trump's birthday parade has nothing to do with celebrating the Army's 250th birthday -- it's to stroke his own ego and make taxpayers foot the bill."

When asked what he hoped the public would remember about the American parade, Trump said, "How great our country is, very simple, and how strong our military is."

"We have the strongest military in the world," he added.

Lost in the shuffle, the former June 14^th "Barack Obama Day". Scoffers said that, besides being fragile and feeble, the 44th president's real birthday is on August 4. (Newsweek, Jan 12^th, ATTACHMENT SIX)

During Trump's first term, he held a unique "Salute To America" event on the Fourth of July in 2019, which was different from typical Independence Day celebrations put on by past presidents noted Fox, Attachment Three above.

The event included a prominent display of military hardware with tanks parked near the National Mall and military flyovers by an array of aircraft. It also included an address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from the president and the typical fireworks display.

France24 (June 14^th, ATTACHMENT SEVEN) credited their own country for the Bastille Day, 2017 party which inspired the American President... “after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Élysées,” to covet an even grander one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

It’s difficult, if not impossible. to imagine Vader throwing such a grand party for himself, or even honoring the storm troopers... they’re just vehicles to him, nothing more. Conversely, the American President acknowledging his planning this event far, far in advance... even when he was in exile and under the thumb of a degenerate liberal like President Joe.

It has been widely circulated, and is probably true, that Vad... er, Trump... filched French “Bastille Day” parties in crafting the birthday parties for the Army and himself

But, opined Time’s opinionator in chief Philip Elliott, the President “picked the worst possible time to hold a military parade.” (ATTACHMENT EIGHT)

“This weekend is shaping up to be surreal, even by D.C. standards,” Elliott reflected. “It’s been hard to miss the military tanks rolling by on flatbed trucks around Eckington, Bloomingdale, and Shaw, heading past the city’s convention center to get in position for a pricey parade on Saturday ordered by President Donald Trump. And if that spectacle were not shocking enough on its own, these giant weapons of war have been rumbling through residential streets in the U.S. capital at the same time as U.S. troops are deployed in the nation’s second-largest city to help advance deeply unpopular immigration raids that have sparked protests across the nation.

Further, he ventured, “there are whiffs that Los Angeles is merely a test case to see just how compliant Americans will be to see the world’s greatest fighting force turn against the very people who pick up its tab. As Trump told reporters on Tuesday, those choosing to object publicly may come to regret it: “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

Notably failing to discriminate between the violent vandals and looters on TV news and the far more numerous peaceful dissidents – just as he now angers even businessmen by lumping the hotel, restaurant and farmworkers in with the alien robbers, rapists and murderers.

Elliot terms Trump’s “fetishization” with military hardware – during his first term, cooler heads dissuaded him from spectacle. Now, with only sock monkeys for a cabinet, “it’s little surprise that he is plunging ahead with a flex that feels more like something we’d see in Moscow or Pyongyang.”

Back in January, a week after inauguration, a White House “Fact Sheet” promised more “lethality” even as he took aim at racial and sexual minorities in the military. (ATTACHMENT NINE)

Blaming the Obama and Biden administration for the danger now facing America, his State Department’s chief of protocol said Tuesday that she expects parade-goers to voice their choice for a stronger, leaner and meaner America... by serenading President Donald Trump with a rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

“June 14 is a special day,” said Monica Crowley, a former Fox News pundit on Steve Bannon’s podcast... “it’s the president’s birthday, so I’m sure the crowd will break out into a ‘Happy Birthday.’ Providential. And it’s also Flag Day, Steve. Meant to be. Hand of God, for sure.”

The White House has insisted that this month’s parade is about U.S. soldiers, their families, and American patriotism, but not the president personally. Still, growled the Daily Beast (ATTACHMENT TEN) “Crowley and other White House aides who discuss the parade cannot help but make the parade about Trump.

“This is an absolute gift, Steve, that America 250 is happening now while President Trump is in office,” Crowley said. “Once again, it really is a gift, and we all want to make sure that we celebrate in a manner that is fitting, not just of this extraordinary president, but of ours extraordinary country.”

CBS (ATTACHMENT ELEVEN) provided viewers with a roster of questions and answers prior to the parade.

June fourteenth was chosen, officially not because it was Trump’s birthday, but because the Second Continental Congress, on June 14, 1775, voted to establish official companies following the fighting at Lexington and Concord against British troops. On June 15, they named George Washington to be commander in chief. 

The peacock’s price estimate varied between $25 million and $45 million... other sources zeroed in on about $40 million as the cost – which Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said was justified because telling the story of America would “lead to a recruiting boom that will fill up our pipeline for the coming years," Driscoll told the House Armed Services Committee...” a theory perhaps borne out by cracklings from some of the various Peanut Galleries noted below.

It was proposed that about soldiers representing every era of the Army's 250 years of history were expected to participate in the parade, according to Army officials, in addition to about 150 vehicles, more than 50 aircraft and, added the Hindustan Times (June 13^th, ATTACHMENT TWELVE) “twenty eight M1 Abrams tanks, 28 tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicles, four tracked M-109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, 28 wheeled Stryker combat vehicles, rocket launchers and precision-guided missiles.

“Thirty-four horses, two mules, and one (live) dog,” as well as several robotic dogs, were also a part of the parade.

Also on display... although neither solicited or wanted, “far greater numbers—organizers say millions—gathered to chant “No Kings” and protest Trump’s deployment of military might against protestors in Los Angeles, as well as his expansive use of Presidential power to intimidate elected officials and judges, purge the government of independent watchdogs, block Congressional funding to agencies and universities, and ignore Constitutional guarantees of due process. (Time, ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN)

Perhaps confirming Dan Driscoll’s belief that the parade would spur recruitments, Time interviewed woman-on-the-street Crystal Sykes, 58, a nurse who took the train from her home in North Carolina to be at the parade. She wore the red Make America Great Again hat that she's had since Trump's first term, with a pin attached to it that displays Trump's name and the American flag in sparkling rhinestones. "If the military doesn't have our support, nobody will want to join." 

"I wish it cost less, but I like it,” said Joey Ink, a 19-year-old college student from Maryland, who attended "to show support for the military, the veterans,” but Time also noted that some of the protesters included Latinos... legal or not... who felt “targeted” by ICE.

Martha Dominguez, 25, a mental health professional living in Landover, said she was there because of Trump's immigration policies; Federal agents pulling people from jobs and off the street leaving her afraid, even though she is a U.S. citizen.

“(Trump) thinks he’s a king. We are going against that because no one is above the law.”

Writing for Fast Company (June tenth, ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN), Jennifer Matson predicted that “millions of Americans” would turn out, with the majority being those who opposed the parade. In their statement to Fast Company, the No Kings organizers described their event as “peaceful, organized, and united.” They added: “Make it clear: We don’t do kings in this country.”

The No Kings protest was sponsored by Indivisible and a broad coalition of over 180 partner organizations, including: the ACLU, Common Cause, Greenpeace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Standing Up for Science, and a number of unions, including the Communication Workers of America and teacher federations.

“Even conservative estimates say that 3.5 million people turned out for the Hands Off mobilization on April 5,” Indivisible’s Ezra Levin told Fast Company’s Mattson. “No Kings [in the U.S] is on track to exceed that by millions more . . . With events [in] red states, blue states, purple states, rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas, United States, North America, Europe, South America—we’re all over.”

The parade’s enormous price tag (USA Today backing up contentions of a $40 tab, give or take a few tanks) has further angered many Americans and Trump critics already fed up by the president’s overall mishandling of the economy from tariffs to immigration, which has been dubbed the TACO presidency, for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Over the sea, the Mirror U.K. (Jan. 11^th, ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN) cited international aspects of “No Kings”... not only in those, like England, which have Kings, but also in Colombia, Germany, Italy, Malawi, and Portugal, according to organizers.

"We want to create contrast, not conflict," said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible (above) as Trump “authorized the deployment of 4,000 National Guards and 700 Marines to LA to confront pro-immigration protesters.

The Pentagon said it cost $134 million to send the troops to the city, which was described as mostly peaceful until they arrived on Sunday.”

The Women's March movement also organized a separate protest called "Kick Out the Clowns." Organizers say 320 events were planned and over 13,000 people responded - the group posting on their website that: "June 14 is our chance to reflect the absurdity of the MAGA regime and the clowns who lead it."

The Moonie produced Washington Times (June 12, ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN) denounced “No Kings” as a political trope against Trump, who “shrugged off” the movement, saying: “I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through Hell to get stuff approved,” at a Thursday bill signing event in the East Room. “We’re not a king at all.” He also told the Moonies that he would invoke the Insurrection Act, if necessary.

He also said Los Angeles “would have burned to the ground,” if he had not deployed the National Guard to the city.

The WashTimepieces contended that Indivisible, has received more than $7.5 million from supervillain George Soros since 2017. Another billionaire Democratic donor, Walmart heiress Christy Walton, paid for full-page, color ads in the New York Times that promote the “No Kings” protests.

The biggest protests were planned for Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and other big cities run by Democrats. Red-state governors said they are ready to crack down on unrest.

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said he’d deploy 5,000 National Guard members and 2,000 state police officers across the state to tamp down any violence that erupts at several No Kings rallies planned in the state.

In Florida, where dozens of No Kings rallies are planned, the state police will be on standby, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, and he’ll deploy the National Guard if necessary.

A sampling of WashTime peanuts revealed a box of seeds and nuts ready to fight.

“Democrats are the party of domestic terrorism... “ (MJ)

“I realize that (Democrats) want a democracy so that they can "vote in" a democracy to establish a socialist utopia...” (R)

“You dump on MY Army's (30 years) Birthday, and I get to come to your house on your birthday and ruin it for you as best I know how...” and

“Protestors need to get a job other than being paid by George Soros to protest.” (CS)

“The instant they move towards "Action" (Violence an other illegal activity), Taze them and toss them into jail.” (AW)

And, speaking of violence, USA Today’s take on No Kings included one demonstration in Northern Virginia when a man “intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person, police said.”

The Culpeper Police Department identified the driver as Joseph R. Checklick Jr, 21.

Other takeaways (ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN) included the police in Los Angeles, who “hit protesters with batons, fired tear gas and ordered a large crowd in downtown to disperse; authorities said they were responding to people throwing "rocks, bricks, bottles," and "fireworks" at officials,” while the cops said “less lethal” responses were approved... adding less lethal “may cause discomfort and pain. It is advised that all persons leave the area." In Atlanta, Proud Boys appeared at a "No Kings" protest while, Minnesota organizers canceled protests across the state “out of an abundance of caution” after a shooter Vance Boelter targeted local lawmakers.”

Other vistas of violence and resistance included a “20-foot balloon of Trump wearing a diaper” inflated and floating above a “sardined crowd” at the Los Angeles' Gloria Molina Grand Park.

“Edward Miranda, 28, allegedly threatened to commit a shooting at the Palm Springs "No Kings" rally, police said on social media.” He was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges and, allegedly, given a Miranda Warning.

“Stop talking about immigrants,” Tongva Native American Shannon Rivers said. “All of you are immigrants. Everyone one of you. We’ve accepted you into our territory — sometimes reluctantly, but we’ve done it...”

The largest No Kings rallies were held in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Phoenix and Los Angeles. USA Today also reported on protests in Coachella, California, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware.

Another gathering of WashTimeclock peanuts (also on June 12, ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN) included one who posted “...if Trump were a king, he could make TDS a fatal disease. The world would be a better place,” another who compared the Dems to “(d)elusional lemmings” and “mindless sheep” and a possible infiltrator who called Trump “the last medieval king, exactly as the Founders intended.”

Intent or irony?

The genesis of No Kings is what many believe to be Trump himself - posteing this on Truth Social (ATTACHMENT NINETEEN) back in February:

CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!

And the suspicion that the intent of MAGA is to go full fascist and exterminate any (large D-) Democratic opposition to the (small R-) “republican” cause may well have derived from Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey who said that “rioters” would “most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs” and that families of any violent insurrectionists would be notified “where to collect your remains, because we will kill you, graveyard dead." (Tallahassee.com, ATTACHMENT TWENTY)

Attorney General James Uthmeier also said that, “... if ICE officers feel they are being intimidated or threatened while in Florida, they now will be able to notify the Florida Highway Patrol, which will provide "routine check ups and patrols."

Trump’s birthday bash, however, has engendered protests... from Republicans!

Libertarian and deficit hawk Rand Paul told The Root (June 12^th, ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE) that he has "never been a big fan of goose stepping soldiers and big tanks and missiles rolling down the street." He continued: "We were always different than the images you saw of the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that."

And then there are the Democratic regulars and irregulars... opinionators like former Labor Sec and present GUKster Robert Reich whose column on the morning of the 14^th stated that “...all across the US, people who have never before participated in a demonstration are feeling compelled to show their solidarity,” (ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO) and adding that “...(p)eaceful protests don’t get covered by the national media.”

Still and all, the protests are “the silver lining on the dark Trumpian cloud,” Reich concluded.

In the New York Times, on June 13^th, Marco Hernandez laid dark linings over a dark cloud in differentiating on the topic of military parades: “Authoritarian regimes use them to intimidate. Democracies use them to commemorate.” (ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE)

His primer for would-be authoritarians and wannabee dictators included these necessities...

Iconic settings

“Military parades often take place against the backdrop of a country’s most recognizable landmarks, such as Tiananmen Square or the Arc de Triomphe.”

Strategic seating charts

“Military parades offer a perfect photo op for leaders who want to show the world who their allies are.” (And, on the other hand, who is no longer in favor with the King...)

Displays of might

Kim Jong, for example, exploits and advertises its most advanced weapons. “Pyongyang’s parade often features nuclear weapons. Some experts believe these are actually props, not functional equipment.”

Intimidating choreography

“Formations of soldiers marching in perfect sync are a hallmark of every military parade... (f)or citizens at home, it stirs up pride; for potential adversaries abroad, it may give pause.” (Or, on the other hand, for potential adversaries at home – it militates silence.)

Short takes, snakes and surveys enumerated by the Daily Beast two days before the birthday boy’s 79^th (ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR) included an Associated Press poll whose implications and insinuations are investigated in more than a few other Attachments (below).

The Beast, not exactly a fan of the Bully, interpreted it as a finding that 60% of Americans “don’t think that a $45 million military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday is a good use of taxpayer money.”

Just 40 percent of Americans polled by the AP “approved of the lavish celebration, while 29 percent disapproved and the rest were neutral.” This, you may think, represents an overall approval of the troops, the tanks, the mules and the dog of about 58 percent, assuming you take the neutrals to be... well... neutral. More, much more on this, below.

Partisanship, however, followed form.

“Along political lines, only 20 percent of Democrats approved, in contrast with 67 percent of Republicans.

“When it came to the price tag, 80 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Independents did not think it was worthwhile spending. Republicans were of a different mind—nearly two thirds signed off on the hefty bill.”

Beastly Farrah Tomazin called Djonald UnDjustified’s excuse for the parade (“without the military, Americans would have lost WWII and would now be speaking German or Japanese”) well... “bonkers!” Or, for that matter, “bizarre”! (ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR)

But the good news for POTUS is that... while only seven of fifty Republicans surveyed by Politico said they would attend the birthday parade... one of these was Donnie’s erstwhile loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

An entirely opposite (and maybe more accurate) take on the AP poll by... surprise... Fox found that, while the numbers were the same as those cited by the Beast, tossing out the undecided meant that “more Americans (were) likely to approve than disapprove of the president's decision to hold a military parade.” (June 14, ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE)

Americans are already dealing with the potential death of (small-d) democracy and the confirmed death of trust... now we’ll have to deal with the likelihood of the death of math.

Some high school students may, however, rejoice!

Fox also reported that the President had slapped back at critics denunciating the cost of the parade, saying last month in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that it would be "peanuts compared to the value of doing it."

"We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it," the president said.

USA Today (ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX) interpreted the AP numbers as 'not a good use' of money... contending, like the Beast, that undecideds were really against even though they also said that “more adults approve than disapprove of Trump's military parade.”

And then, as the troops marched and the mules hee-hawed and the dog barked, No Kingers claimed to have drawn “...millions of people, with some hundreds still under way in all 50 states and to some cities abroad. These included more than 200,000 in New York and over 100,000 in Philadelphia, plus some small towns with sizable crowds for their populations, including the town of Pentwater, Michigan, which saw 400 people join the protest in their 800-person town.” (Guardian UK 21.02 EDT (ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN)

Despite Governor (and failed Veep) Walz urging Minnesotans to stay home out of deference to murdered State Senator Melissa and husband John Hortman and the Hoffmans, also shot, “...many thousands of people still turned up at the main protest in Minnesota, at the state capitol, to make it clear that political violence wouldn’t silence them.”

Could Walz’s timidity have had something to do with his defeat? Democrats, in 2026 and 2028 will have to ponder this.

“Many thousands of people still turned up at the main protest in Minnesota, at the state capitol, to make it clear that political violence wouldn’t silence them. Crowds stretched for blocks as people carried signs against Trump, and some that mentioned the names of the lawmakers who were shot. On the main stage, organizers mentioned the tragedy, saying how it strengthened their resolve and underscored the importance of gathering together.

“We are all affected by not just by political violence, but all violence in our lives,” said protester Perry McGowan. “And there’s way too much of it – way too much gun violence, way too much television hate, way too much inhumanity to your neighbors, and we need to push back on that and to contribute civility to our common good.”

Elsewhere, sorrow was displaced by rage... and, sometimes, humor.

In Philadelphia, as thousands marched from Love Park in the early afternoon, holding umbrellas and signs. Victor, a 56-year-old chef originally from Argentina, held a hand-painted sign that depicted Trump as a pig, with “Oink” painted atop his image in large letters, calling the military parade two hours down south “a perverse show of power unnecessarily.”

And menace...

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis... bypassed by Trump, history and public attention... attempted to regain some mojo by snarling that people could legally run over protesters with their cars if they were surrounded. “You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets. You have a right to defend yourself in Florida,” he said while patriots in L.A. waved American flags at migrants and No Kingers waving Mexican flags and Elon Musk slunk off to his business empire amidst protesters burning Teslas and, today, the explosion of a Space X rocket in Texas.

The liberal “Conversation” predicted, boldly yet fearfully, that Trump “has long speculated about using force against his own people...” (and now) “has the pretext to do so” in advance of his 79^th. (June 9, ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT)

They reported that Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet.

“You just [expletive] shot the reporter!” the mob howled.

Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same “non-lethal” ammunition.

After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as “a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States”. He then deployed the National Guard.

‘Can’t you just shoot them?’ Trump was rumoured to have asked, hearkening back to Kent State, Jackson State, Rodney King, George Floyd and... further back... to massacres of blacks in Tulsa, union workers in Colorado many, many more.

Former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that, in his first term. Trump asked him, “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them (Black Lives Matter protesters) in the legs or something?”

During last year’s election campaign, he promised to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country”. Even now-quiescent Bezoided WashPost termed this description of Trump’s “political enemies” as “echoing Hitler, Mussolini”.

ICA agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone.

As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, “the cruelty is the point”.

Death knocked as an "innocent bystander" was killed after being caught in the crossfire between a person who pulled out a rifle at demonstrators and members of a peacekeeping team for the "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City on June 14, authorities said. (USA Today, ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE)

The man, who was identified on June 15 as Utah resident Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, later died at the hospital.

Police accused Arturo Gamboa, 24, of brandishing a rifle at demonstrators and running away from two “peacekeepers”, who ordered him to drop the weapon. Police said Gamboa and Ah Loo were both struck by gunfire after one of the peacekeepers fired three rounds.

"Detectives have developed probable cause that Gamboa acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member."

The Minnesota murders having propelled the public off their couches and Father’s Day festivities; tabloid talkers and sober scryers alike blaming the atrocities on their favorite partisan demons

Late on Saturday, the parade over, five Rolling Stone scriveners declared... surprise!... that Trump’s “hideously expensive” military birthday parade was “a gross failure.” (ATTACHMENT THIRTY)

“The spectacle was billed as honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday — and planners put in admirable effort to sell this fiction, with processions designed to honor key times in American military history,” wrote the Five Stoners. In reality, they dismissed the event as “just one part of the Trump administration’s vast, billion-dollar government effort to make the leader feel good about himself.”

At day’s end, Trump, spoke (see Attachment “A” below). He praised the army — and armies of years past. “Our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never ever quit. They fight, fight, fight and they win, win, win,” Trump said, in what seemed like an obvious reference to his own declaration of “Fight, Fight, Fight,” after a failed assassination attempt grazed his ear in Butler.

“We’re the hottest country in the world right now,” Trump said. “Our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before.”

Among the merchers, speakers praised Lockheed Martin, surveillance goonboys Palantir, Coinbase crypto exchange and the STRUMP meme coins while soldiers handed out drinks from sponsor Phorm Energy — a new beverage by Anheuser-Busch and UFC CEO Dana White, in the flavor Screamin’ Freedom. The speakers blared out Heart’s “Barracuda” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

A Rolling Stone, Mick Jagger, had opined on Newsweek before the election a year ago that band wanted to play "Wild Horses" but needed “11,000 more votes” – to which swipe a Trump toady said (correctly) “Mick can’t always get what he wants.”

And more rock and roll folderol from Variety... Trump’s parade DJ played Creedence’s “draft dodger slamming” song “Fortunate Son” during the event. Was the DJ a secret “No Kings” mole or, Variety asked (ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE) was it “just the further death of irony?” or just another occurrance “through sheer cluelessness, and bumbling self-sabotage.”

The cluelessness and bumbling continued after the parade when former Trumian intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler, discussing Her Man on Fox appeared obviously drunk... a suspicion confirmed by footage of Becky swilling champagne before her “hit”.

“Like, this is incredible. Finally the United States is… uh… is back,” she slurred her words, then telling the Fox “...I wanna thank these officers for all of these sacrifices and all of the hardships that their families have endured. Lawrence Jones, you are doing– you’re your [unintelligible], man! You guys and [unintelligible] Lucas! I wanna thank–” before she was cut off. (June 14, 10:10 AM, ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO).

“Don't be surprised if Trump promotes Ms. Koffler to assistant Secretary of Defense, or some other important post,” exclaimed a possibly perverse peanut in the Variety gallery, “because she is truly a great American. America only deserves the best people in the Trump administration.”

“Tanked,” replied another, whose sentiments were less obfuscatory or sidereal... “just like the parade,” while another wondered aloud if Becky had been out imbibing with “Whiskey Pete” (Hegseth) or “Jeanine Pinot Grigio.”

On a darker, more serious note, Philip Kennicott of the WashPost wrote that Trump had “wanted a military spectacle (but) instead, got a history lesson”... said lesson being that June 14^th was not only the 250^th anniversary of the Army and the 79^th of Trump, but also the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which Kennicott called “the all-time nadir of the military’s reputation in the United States” – bringing to mind the protests at home, including Kent and Jackson States, bone spurs and “Fortunate Son”.

Fortunate Americans enjoyed a docile and upbeat parade, a far cry from the cited “Triumph of the Will”. The Americans walked, without goose-stepping, families cheered and nobody got shot, not in Washington. While it fulfilled Trump's long-held vision of “lethality” (below) and tanks moving down the capital’s broad avenues, costs were not increased by their causing damage to DC’s roads.

“Real strength,” opined Jane Harman in Time (ATTACHMENT THIRTY FOUR) isn’t measured by parades. “It’s measured by whether the United States is more secure, our alliances stronger, and our adversaries more constrained. On that front, the picture is far less celebratory.”

Examples, Time cited, were the technical and military expansion of China amidst Hegseth’s culture wars distractions and trade policies that appear to be pushing our allies deeper into the tentacles of Beijing. Far from ending wars in Ukraine and the MidEast, the fighting has only escalated.

Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium continues to grow, Israeli officials are openly weighing military options, and the United States is evacuating diplomats and military families from Iraq due to rising tensions while the President waffles on whether or not to start or join with a shooting war against the mullahs.

Defending, as usual, their president – whom Harman called a “birthday boy (who) may not like the reviews” – the New York Post quoted Trump as saying that a parade celebrating the wars won by America’s vaunted land force has been long overdue.

“Every other country celebrates their victories,” Trump said in his post-parade speech. “It’s about time America did too.” 

As choppers and planes flew over Washington past the Washington Monument, one passerby said: “How awesome is that?” (ATTACHMENT THIRTY FIVE)

“The US Army has driven bayonets into the heart of sinister empires and crushed the ambitions of evil tyrants beneath the treads of American tanks,” the president continued. 

Perhaps sending a message to the mullahs in Tehran, Trump continued, saying: ““Time and again, America’s enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you, your defeat will be certain, your demise will be final and your downfall will be total and complete – because our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never, ever quit.” 

“They fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win.” 

Protesters were lined up all outside the security perimeter of the parade route, and The Post witnessed some attempting to sneak into the event. 

“A few were seen wearing “F— Israel” shirts and were shouting the slogan as well.”

The Post Peanut Gallery (ATTACHMENT THIRTY SIX) similarly hailed the Army and Trump’s 79^th.  “This parade... this military parade was absolutely spectacular and what a celebration!” gushed S. “Boo to the people that tried to degrade this 250 year acknowledgment and celebration of the US Army in military!”

A few cynics poked their heads out of holes in the ground, but were pushed back by pro-Presidential Peanuts. “Large crowds, smiling soldiers, and impressive vehicles and planes. Thank you, President Trump,” posted JD.

And, responding to No Kings contentions that their American and worldwide participants were more numerous than the 200,000 or 250,000 at the parade, MAGAmen dismissed the lack of positive coverage because the media only cares when violence offurs. America “...is a Republic,” posted a presumed Republican, “not a democracy; mob rule does not work here.”

Small and presumably capital-D Democrats and their media allies responded differently, the New Republic perhaps denied its name by calling the parade a Pathetic Event for a Pathetic President.

“Three dozen horses, 28 Abrams tanks, 6,700 soldiers,” not to mention the two mules, robotic and one mammalian dog “and millions of taxpayer dollars later... Donald Trump’s military birthday parade was still a flop at best,” was the determination of the NR’s Malcolm Ferguson on Sunday.. 

Fergie acknowledged the “...genuine awe and joy as Black Hawk helicopters, Howitzers, and other heavy-duty war machinery trudged down Constitution Avenue. 

“But the parade itself was quite boring,” he then continued (ATTACHMENT THIRTY SEVEN) “save for those few movements. It was generally very quiet—so quiet you could clearly hear the creaks and squeaks of the armored vehicles—with intermittent music that was constantly being lowered so that the parade narrator could announce each battalion. Weak chants of “USA, USA” popped up every 10 minutes or so. And the majority of the parade was just soldiers walking by—not even marching in step with each other—in military garb from wars past.

“Children grew weary in the humidity, as did some adults. One man wearing an Infowars.com shirt kept yelling, “Bring out the tanks!!” and complained that “people got no energy out here.” Another started scrolling on TikTok. “There were large cheers for West Point and some confused murmurs for the Boston Dynamics robot dogs.” 

Energy picked up with the fireworks and Trump/Vance speeches... people linking arms and swayed while they sang, “I’m Proud to Be an American.” 

Past, present and future soldiers cheered on the marchers and an Air Force interloper said that conditions in the Middle East, “called for a display such as this.  

“I think now is a scarier time than people think it is, just because we’re not really deployed as much as we used to be in the Middle East,” he explained. “It’s probably one of the scariest times in our country’s history where we have a bunch of people who hate us. So I think it’s a good time to show that we aren’t weak, because there’s lots of propaganda saying that the Army’s weak or the military is getting soft.” 

Justin Walz (no relation to the Minnesota Governor), brought his wife and three young children from Farmville, Virginia, to the parade for Father’s Day weekend, and told Ferguson that Trump’s parade sent a positive signal to young American men, many of whom he thinks are lost. 

“These young boys are looking for a father figure. And currently, there really are no father figures, a lot of fatherless homes,” he said. “And that’s the reason Trump has gained so much popularity in the younger community.”

Then again, what Fergie called the “Q-Anon” cultists – one in a King Trump t-shirt, another in sporting a Pepe the frog necklace - said that Trump was the only man brave enough to expose the sex-trafficking pedophiles, vampire Hillary Clinton and menacing Socialists in what another called a “mask-off” event that would bring an end to the “250 years of disrespect” that the military has faced.

While MAGA loyalists left the parade satisfied, it’s clear that many Americans feel very conflicted about what U.S. military power and patriotism mean in the Trump era,” Ferguson concluded – adding that what he and others called the “low turnout” (in a comparatively small battlefield, heavily policed) wouldl force MAGA “to go to great lengths to spin a clear flop as a success.”

“Trump wanted badly for this to be a grand, raucous, March on Washington–level event, and it just wasn’t close. Now American taxpayers paid millions so a few people could watch tanks rumble down the street while soldiers marched in centuries-old war cosplay. Happy birthday, Mr. President.”

Stage right, the National Review (Monday, ATTACHMENT THIRTY EIGHT) took aim at MSNCB anchors “shocked by the lack of ‘Dark’ Energy at the parade.

Trump rallies, those can be very tense, MSNBC host Ali Velshi told co-commentator Chris Hayes, emitting a kind of “I would say, like kind of a dark, malevolent energy.” Not always,” he added, “but it doesn’t seem like that’s the energy on the Mall today, which I think is a good sign, right?” Hayes asked Velshi.

Ali replied: “I’m just sort of surprised by the number of people who were at the front of the parade watching, cheering, and then would come and ask to take a selfie. This is a very different, this is a very different mood here. People seem to be going out of their way to say that they’re here to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday,” Velshi said – even as a passerby passed by muttering “Trump 2028!”

Elsewhere on MSNBC, the NR noted contributor Eddie Glaude, a Princeton University professor, discussing dark energy as it related to Trump supporters and the ICE raids even then going on in Los Angeles, saying that they reminded him of a time when the nation was divided between “slaveholders and slave catchers.”

“Folk(s) have their red meat, now that they’re going to see the spectacle of quote, unquote ‘L.A. on fire’... (w)ill that activate the ugliness that got him in office in the first place?...” Glaude questioned. “Because we know that he’s always good on the immigration question.”

“Here’s the thing: Donald Trump, as a political charlatan of sorts, gives Americans license to be who they really are. They don’t have to pretend and when you see what they really are, who they really are, these people who support him. Right? It’s dark,” Glaude said.

Of course, there is no comparison to be made between people who have knowingly entered the country illegally and people who were enslaved.

After celebrity Kim Kardashian said in recent days that immigrants in L.A. are suffering “fear and injustice” because of ICE raids in the city, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the county?”

And while MSNBC didn’t see a dark energy at the military parade, The View, ahead of the event, said it was similar to something one would see in Russia or North Korea.

“I don’t understand this,” co-host Sara Haines said Friday. “I can’t be the only one when I think of military parades, I think of Russia and North Korea and visuals of people saluting and doing things and that’s just not what I think of when I think of the U.S.,” adding that even Rand Paul had considered the parade a waste of time and money.

The foreign press responded to Trump 79, Army 250 with more bewilderment than outrage.

France24 wrote that Trump had “raised eyebrows” by directing members of the 82^nd Airborne Division to stand behind the President at an earlier speech at Fort Bragg to boo and cheer during his incendiary remarks, including condemnation of his predecessor, Joe Biden despite a long-standing DoD policy (now seemingly scrapped) “that prohibits troops from participating in political activity while in uniform.” (ATTACHMENT THIRTY NINE)

There also was a pop-up “Make America Great Again” merchandise stand nearby selling souvenirs to troops in uniform.

Al Jazeera (ATTACHMENT FORTY) asked whether the forty million dollar bash was celebration or “dictator behavior” – adding that Vice President JD Vance, who introduced the president at the end of the parade, “was the only official to acknowledge the dual birthdays.

“June 14th is, of course, the birthday of the army. It is, of course, the birthday of the president of the United States,” he said. “Happy birthday, Mr President.”

One spectator told the Jazzies that he did not see an issue with how Trump has used federal forces in local law enforcement.

Trump’s decision regarding California and Gavin Newsome was the first time since 1965 that a president had activated the National Guard without a governor’s consent. Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have indicated that the approach could be replicated across the country. In recent days, Trump has floated invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow US troops to take part in domestic law enforcement, in what critics call a step towards martial law, but has not yet done so.

“If governors can’t get their states under control, then Trump should send [the National Guard] in,” said Aaron, a spectator who declined to give his last name.

“Look, I was born in Nicaragua. I came here when I was 12,” Aaron added. “I know what a dictator is. This is not a dictator,” he said, motioning to the grandstand from where Trump watched the parade.

But a woman from Texas, who joined a group of protesters marching in front of the White House replied “I do not stand by an America that tears families apart and targets people because they look brown and they look Mexican,” she said, her eyes welling up, “because they look like me”.

Germany’s DW (ATTACHMENT FORTY ONE) wrote that it was closing its coverage on the parade when it was “overshadowed” by events including a politically motivated killing of a lawmaker in Minnesota, as well by protests against Trump's immigration policies.

France24, however, soldiered on Sunday after the parade - using his parade address to send a warning to Washington's adversaries of "total and complete" defeat, with the United States increasingly at risk of entanglement in Israel's conflict with Iran.

"Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you," Trump said. (ATTACHMENT FORTY TWO)

'Happy Birthday'

The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" and there were occasional chants of "USA! USA!" but the Bastille Day boys opined that atmosphere “was less intense than one of the barnstorming rallies that swept Trump to power.”

After a day of largely peaceful protests, police unexpectedly began moving people away from the LA protest area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.

“Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew.” France24 also took note of the shooting of demonstrators at the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City and the killing of the Hortmans in Minnesota.

And, back home on Saturday afternoon amidst the pomp and circumstance of the parade, Newsweek reported that the President had posted a Truth Social notice, thanking Nice Vlad for his birthday greetings.

"President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well," Trump wrote on Saturday afternoon. "We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. He is doing the planned prisoner swaps - large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides. The call lasted approximately 1 hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end." (ATTACHMENT FORTY THREE)

Newsweek reported that Israel’s “Rising Lion” operation had killed Iranian Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as well as several nuclear scientists and put an end to the nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Oman.

What People Are Saying and What Happens Next?

CBS reported that Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, told journalists following the call, according to CBS News: "Vladimir Putin, having condemned the military operation against Iran, expressed serious concern about the possible escalation of the conflict."

Trump indicated that he and Putin will revisit the issue of Ukraine in further detail during anticipated conversations next week.

SUNDAY - FATHERS DAY

The WashTimes reported that Trump had wished a happy Father’s Day to ‘radical left degenerates’ last year.

“Happy Father’s Day to all, including the radical left degenerates that are rapidly bringing the United States of America into third world nation status with their many attempts at trying to influence our sacred court system into breaking to their very sick and dangerous will,” the Truth Social post said in screaming, all-capital letters.

“We need strength and loyalty to our country, and its wonderful constitution,” he said. “Everything will be on full display come Nov. 5, 2024 — the most important day in the history of our country. Make America great again!!!”

Mission accomplished.

(His Mother’s Day post had also celebrated the “Mothers, Wives and Lovers of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, and Communists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great Country,” while past Christmas and Memorial Day posts found 45 and 47 expressing hope and determination to his political rivals and predictions that “may they rot in hell. Again, Merry Christmas!”

His then-Peanut Gallery poster boys and girls ridiculed Joe Biden’s cognitive blunders such as his confusion of Iowa with Idaho and Florida and one of the nuts posted that the radical left “has no definition for what a father is.”

Delving even more deeply into the past, Time traveled back to 1964 when a then-young... well, heading towards “middle-aged father and mid-level federal appointee named Daniel Patrick Moynihan hit on what he believed to be the solution to America’s racial conflict in his sleep”... helping black fathers stay with their families.

“Moynihan spent much of the next year working on a study, published in the spring of 1965 under the title The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Initially confidential and anonymous, the document quickly became indelibly identified with its author: The Moynihan Report.

In the six decades since its publication, the Moynihan Report has come to symbolize how assumptions of racial difference have skewed even liberal policies aiming for social equality. “Fair as these charges are,” opined Time’s Augustine Sedgewick (ATTACHMENT FORTY FIVE), Moynihan’s initial thinking was as much about biased views on masculinity and Freudian psychology as it was about race... a “stunted” effort to fight “deep inequalities of race and class” and a perceived crisis of masculinity and fatherhood “through ambitious, though ultimately unrealized policies to support families.”

Detailing Moynihan’s impoverished childhood, travel to the London School of Economics on a Fulbright fellowship and his psychoanalytic sessions – collected in journals now housed in the Library of Congress – as detailed “graphic accounts of the inner turmoil around sexuality and fatherhood that Moynihan hoped to resolve.”

Obtaining a post in (J. F.) Kennedy’s Labor Department, he pivoted rightwards in 1964 – condemning “Fatherless nonwhite families,” living off welfare. He saw this as a consequence of two opposing partisan... black men forced into “infantile regression” as a consequence of slavery (the left) and an overly generous welfare system that resulted in “a Black culture of matriarchy (the right). After the 1965 riots began in Watts, Moynihan was hailed as a prophet who had foretold the summer’s violence by some, and condemned as a racist and misogynist who was only “blaming the victim,” especially Black women, by others, notably Angela Davis. Angered, he deserted LBJ for Harvard and the Republicans, but Johnson... perhaps admitting the political and financial insolubility of a real solution... generated a series of public relations remedies: one of which was a resolution that, following the “widely observed” Mother’s Day, a special resolution created Father’s Day... “officially celebrated on the third Sunday in June.”

Moynihan then turned to Nixon who, in 1972, “went one step further than Johnson and declared Father’s Day a permanent national holiday.”

Sedgewick concluded that Father’s Day could hardly resolve the problems it was meant to address... men in trouble; parents needing help... hoping, instead, that a time has come “for policies that will reduce the financial pressures that all families face but weigh disproportionately on those who can least afford to bear them.”

Unlikely... but at least all the merching will give certain sectors of the economy a lift.

Fox, on the occasion of Trump’s birthday (ATTACHMENT FORTY SIX) described the President’s own core family (some who accompanied him to the parade, some of whom didn’t) as follows...

Trump’s wife, Melania Trump

Melania Trump, 54, is Trump’s third and current wife – a former model from Yugoslavia, and the second foreign-born first lady of the United States (the first was Louisa Adams.) 

They married in 2005, and Melania became a naturalized citizen in 2006. 

Trump's father-in-law, Victor Knavs

Victor Knavs, 80, is Melania Trump's father. At Trump's inauguration parade at Capital One Arena Monday evening, he was seated next to Barron Trump, Trump's youngest child and Knavs' grandson. 

Melania Trump's parents, Victor and Amalija Knavs, are from a small town in Slovenia. They relocated permanently to the U.S. following Melania's marriage to Donald Trump and became citizens in 2018. Amalija died in January 2024 at the age of 78. 

Trump’s previous wives

Ivana Marie Trump was Trump’s first wife, from 1977 to 1990. She was a fashion model and businesswoman from Czechoslovakia, became a citizen in 198 and died in 2022 at the age of 73. Together, they had Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump. 

Marla Maples and Donald Trump were married from 1993 to 1999. She was an actress and model. Together, they had Tiffany Trump. 

Trump’s kids

Donald Jr. is Trump’s oldest son. Don Jr. campaigned for his father in 2016 and 2020... lobbied his father to choose close friend JD Vance for vice president, pushed for former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and now helps run the family real estate business Don Jr. has five children — or "smurfs," as he sometimes refers to them — with his former wife, Vanessa Trump... Kai Madison, 18; Donald John III, 16; Tristan Milos, 13; Spencer Frederick, 12; and Chloe Sophia Trump, 11.

Ivanka Trump worked in the White House as a senior adviser during Trump’s first term. She was on the campaign trail in 2020, too, but announced was getting out of politics to focus on her husband and their three kids in 2024. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, (an adviser on the Middle East) have three children: Arabella Rose, 13; Joseph Frederick, 11; and Theodore James Kushner, 9.

Eric Trump participated in his father’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020, but now focuses more on running the family business including a crypto platform called World Liberty Financial. Eric and his wife, Lara, have two children: Eric Luke, 7, and Carolina Dorothy Trump, 5.

Tiffany Trump is Trump’s sole child with second wife Marla Maples... while present in the 2024 campaign, she still largely avoids the spotlight. 

Barron Trump is currently a freshman New York University business student. He graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida on May 17, 2024. Barron towers over his parents at a reported 6'9". 

Trump’s ten grandchildren

· Kai Madison Trump, 18... an avid golfer and aspiring social media influencer

· Donald John Trump III, 16

· Tristan Milos Trump, 13

· Spencer Frederick Trump, 12

· Chloe Sophia Trump, 10

· Arabella Rose Kushner, 13

· Joseph Frederick Kushner, 11

· Theodore James Kushner, 9

· Eric "Luke" Trump, 7

· Carolina Dorothy Trump, 5

Trump’s brothers and sisters

The President is one of five siblings. He had two brothers, Fred Trump Jr and Robert Trump, and two sisters, Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth Trump Grau. His only surviving sibling is Elizabeth. She is retired and lives in Florida. 

Donald and Melania Trump at Army parade: Family members who did (and didn't) attend

(The White House did not comment on Djonald UnScriptural’s Father’s Day or whether he had attended his usual church. A former Presbyterian who now considers himself a nondenominational Christian – although partial to right and far-right sectarians. ]Whether or not his own conduct satisfies Scripture, Trump’s political comeback has relied upon his near unanimous support among evangelical Christians.)

Time’s Philip Elliott has opined that Christian voters are”just walking away” from Democrats – citing a Change Research poll finding 75% of Christian voters have “little or no trust” in the Democratic Party, 70% distrust the federal government and 61% believe they are being persecuted because of their faith. (ATTACHMENT FORTY SEVEN)

Interviewing progressive pastor and executive director of Vote Common Good Doug Pagitt, Elliott attributed this walkaway to “grievance”. Pagitt’s own survey found that half the Christian voters said religion is losing influence on American life... probably regarding the metastatizing cultural wars... resenting the asses’ hostility toward voters of faith within the party, their “flagging a fetishing of secularism that is reshaping the electoral map to their detriment” and choosing to support Republican politicians whose personal lives and political agendas are, to be charitable, somewhat at odds with Christianity.

Anyway, the President, as Sunday morning limped into noonday, received his Father’s Day honorifics from friends and family (no doubt ingesting some of the sweet sentiments of his pet media coverage of the Big Parade) and then left town like a gangster given warning by Bat Masterson or Walker, Texas Ranger, to get out of Dodge, or D.C. absorb some of the air out there, take a deep breath before crossing the border into the smoky North and... as if flaunting his valor, deplaning among the now-enemy Burning Men of Canada... to walk and wander the wilderness retreat of Kananaskis among his (lesser) peers and their spouses... the Irish Star reporting that, for the second time, Melania Trump elected to skip the G7 Summit while in the White House.

South a ways in Minnesota, police captured the politician killer who’d dressed as a policeman to shoot four, killing two. A neighbor said Vance Boelter had “really hated abortion” and had drawn up a hit list of Democrats, abortion providers and celebrities whom he wanted to exterminate.

Religion... specifically the MidEast wars now spreading from the small ISIS, Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist cells to their Iranian patrons... will force the Group of Seven western powers to spend less time on other issues and instead discuss ways of managing the conflict.

Like so many of their discussions, that will involve Britain, France, Germany and Italy - along with Canada and Japan - seeking to influence the United States the BBC previewed the summit (ATTACHMENT FORTY EIGHT)

“(A)lthough Israel might have launched these strikes without explicit American support, the US president is the only leader with real leverage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” wrote the BBC’s James Landale – who also noted the disparity between G-7 diplomats and heads of state.

“Some, such as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France, have called for restraint and de-escalation.

“But others such as Japan's Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, have condemned Israel's attack as "intolerable" and "extremely regrettable".

For his part, Mr Trump praised Israel's strikes as "excellent".

Canadians, Landale wrote, “well remember the last time they hosted a G7 gathering in 2018 when there was a row over - yes - Donald Trump's trade tariffs. The president stormed out early,” and, on the plane home, withdrew his support for the summit communique after watching Justin Trudeau, the then Canadian Prime Minister, give a press conference Mr. Trump described as "very dishonest and weak".

Landale suggested that perhaps Canadian PM Carney arrange a visit to the Kananaskis golf club “to try to keep Mr Trump onside.”

After the Mideast, the agenda included Russia/Ukraine and President Zelenskyy arrived to join discussions on Tuesday. centering around sanctions on Russian oil, “penalties aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, banks and military industry” and, as advocated by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) “tough new sanctions that would impose steep tariffs on countries that buy cheap Russian oil, most particularly China and India.”

But it was the flabby old tariffs that stalled proceedings... even as Monday lurched into Tuesday, Trump’s merching bucks kept flowing inwards as he denounced those Eye-ranian fucks and exchanged strained yucks with strange Canucks, while bad news wafted into the resort with the toxic smoke.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, fashion designer and "Project Runway" contestant was identified as the protester who was shot and killed during the "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City. (See Here) Bad winds and tidings from the homeland wafted north like moral and mental firesmoke to besmirch the President’s nostrils and tonsils as his spin doctors spun their tales; Trumpuppies wagged their tails and haters from all over the world passed gas over his now-passed parade.

“How unpopular is Trump?” the Independent U.K. asked on Monday. (ATTACHMENT FORTY NINE) “Even some people who attended his military parade don’t like him.” (See here)

IUK also updated the “do not travel” advisory for Israel, Gaza and the West Bank territory to “do not travel” as casualties mount on both sides of Israel’s escalating war with Iran, while the Trump Organization... under the care of Don Junior... announced a self-branded smartphone and mobile service for “real Americans” to take on Apple and Samsung.

The A.P. reported that Trump had “kicked off his time at the Group of Seven summit on Monday by suggesting that Russia and maybe even China should be part of the organization.

Trump asserted that it was a “very big mistake” to remove Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, a move that precipitated Russia’s wider invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The comments added more complexity regarding Trump’s interests as he is set to meet on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the brutal war started by the invasion.

“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” Trump said, referring to Justin Trudeau, who was elected Canadian prime minister the year after Russia was removed from the G8. Stephen Harper was the Canadian prime minister at the time. (ATTACHMENT FIFTY)

Asked by a reporter if China should also be added, Trump said: “It’s not a bad idea. I don’t mind that if somebody wants to see just China coming in.”

The U.S. president said it’s important for world leaders to be able to speak with one another at summits.

“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else,” Trump said. “He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8, as I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be.”

Canada’s Carney tried to flatter Trump by noting that the G7 would be rudderless without the U.S.

“The G7 is nothing without U.S. leadership,” Carney said.

POTUS went to sleep, dreamed, and was up on TACO Tuesday, unclucked, unaccompanied by Melania and ready to rumble.

The vibes, like the smoke, went from bad to worse after a day of intense diplomacy culminating in President Trump repeating his first term walkout dipped out early when he was supposed to stay until today.

The Financial Times’ James Politi said that the U.S. had resisted signing any joint statement on the Middle East, but then getting on board in the end.” But Trump went overboard in opposing sanctions on Moscow, which many European leaders and members of Congress were calling for – complaining about Russia’s exclusion from the group ever since it invaded Crimea in 2014, making things a bit awkward for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was supposed to meet Trump. (ATTACHMENT FIFTY ONE)

Posting on X while roasting both the G-7 stripey pants and No Kings subversives, Trump called the protests “a complete and utter failure with minuscule attendance. It is sad Democrats and liberals would rather support criminals and illegals instead of celebrating the 250th anniversary of our great U.S. Army and Flag Day," communications director Steven Cheung wrote. "But many more Americans are commemorating our brave military men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice and who those continue to serve our country."

Back at Mar-a-Lago, Trump posted and golfed while more than 1,000 protesters gathered at Phipps Park and marched toward the "Winter White House". They were stopped by police at the end of the Southern Boulevard bridge, and turned back to the Meyer Amphitheatre lawn for a rally. (ATTACHMENT FIFTY TWO)

“Cue the culture war!” suggested Musa al-Gharbi - a sociologist in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, and author of We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite.

“There is a constellation of academic and media personalities who breathlessly root for all protests to escalate into violent revolution,” he added, (ATTACHMENT FIFTY THREE) “while another faction claims to support all the causes in principle but somehow never encounters an actual protest movement that they outright support.

As I watched Waymo cars burning as Mexican flags fluttered behind them, he opined, “I couldn’t help but be reminded of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. In the documentary Sociology Is a Martial Art, he emphasized: “I don’t think it’s a problem that young people are burning cars. I want them to be able to burn cars for a purpose.”

“It is, indeed, possible for burning cars to serve a purpose. However, it matters immensely who is perceived to have lit the fuse.”

Finally, “violence is coming to define American political life,” according to Stephen Marche of GUK in the presumably not-guilty Britain. The simple truth, he believes, “is that most stakeholders in society – elites and normies alike, and across ideological lines – would prefer to stick with a suboptimal status quo than to embrace disruption in the service of an uncertain future state. Melees, looting and destruction are perennially unpopular. Then again, so were civil rights-era bus boycotts, diner sit-ins and marches. In truth, the public rarely supports any form of social protest.” (ATTACHMENT FIFTY FOUR)

Polls increasingly show that Americans broadly reject the agency’s tactics of conducting arrests in plain clothes, “stuffing people in unmarked vehicles and wearing masks to shield their identities.” Employers, meanwhile, have lobbied the White House to revise its policies, “which seem to primarily target longstanding and gainfully employed workers rather than criminals or people free-riding on government benefits – to the detriment of core US industries.

Trump did not push for a crackdown reluctantly, after all other options were exhausted. He appeared to be hungry for conflict and eager to see the situation escalate. He seemed to relish norm violations and inflicting harm on his opponents. These perceptions were politically disastrous for him in 2020. They appear to be just as disastrous today.

At present, Marche concludes, “it’s not looking good for the White House.”

Trump, however, either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Back at his home… at least for the next three year and change… he ordered the erection of two new flagpoles and, as the enormous 100ft (30.5m) poles were being set up, asked the contractor whether any of his workers were aliens.

And he told such media as were on hand that Iran cannot be allowed to have “all that nuclear stuff, all over the place,” before headed on towards Juneteenth.

	Our Lesson: June 12 through June 18, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025 Dow: 42,967.82	“If I didn’t act,” says President Trump after sending in Marines and National Guard to fight Americans who were protesting Sunday’s 45 million dollar bash, “L.A. would be burning.” He calls the city a “trash heap.” California Gov. Newsome says that the “rule of law has been replaced by the rule of Don” as Democrats call Trump’s renaming military bases after Confederates a return to slaver, mounted police trample people in the cities and ICE chases farmworkers through fields of abandoned produce. He states that American stands by Israel as Iran retaliates for surprise strike by firing missiles and drones at civilian targets, but expresses doubt to Bad Vlad as Russia continues its war. The most deadly event of the day, however, is the crash of a Boeing 787 just after takeoff from India. 244 passengers and 30 people on the ground are killed, but one man survives, even walking away. Changes on network television... ABC moves out of its Times Square studio and relocates near Wall Street downtown while CBS fires Teresa Tomlinson from her late night talk cum gameshow, thanking her cast members, crew and fans and complaining about the budget that the network allowed her.
Friday, June 13, 2025 Dow: 42,197.79	It’s Friday the 13^th and an unlucky day for Iran as Israel bombs Tehran, concentrating on nuclear sites and scientists and killing key members of Ayatollah Khameini’s administration and Revolutionary Guards. Little Marco denies that President Trump knew about Mossad’s “Operation Rising Lion” but Donny is coy and says Iran had a chance to make a deal, but did not take it. Iranians, shouting “Death to America” raise oil prices and the Dow crashes. As tomorrow’s controversial parade is only a day away, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Ca) is violently ejected from DHS Kristi Noem’s press conference and arrested after it was announced that parents with children older than seven (quickly raised to ten) have to work off their food stamps. Anti-Trumpers name their protests “No Kings”. Over in London, “Yes King” Charles confers knighthood on David Beckham as the British Army “troops the colors”. Back here, the Songwrtiers Hall of Fame honors Mike Love, who recalls Brian Wilson as old video surfaces in which he says he never surfed. While investigators investigate, the sole survivor of Air India’s crash in Ahmenabad says he was sitting in an overflow seat and when the crash broke open the plane, he just walked out seconds before the fire and explosion killed everybody else.
Saturday, June 14, 2025 Dow: Closed	And now, the time has come! The American Army is 250 and Trump is 79 (but it’s also the 87^th birthday of Superman while the morning cartoon show runs a lost Popeye featuring a black Olive Oyl! The Trump/Army birthday bash incites 2,000 “No Kings” protests in all states. An 87 year old antifascist is rassled away from his walker, handcuffed and arrested and Mexican President Sheinbaum warns ICE not to break up the soccer playoffs in L.A. The President reportedly “blinks” as he suspends raids on farms, hotels and restaurants and protests are noisy but mostly peaceful. Not even Fox covers the parades (where the troops don’t goose step!), only the Trumply Newsmax – Djonald UnCovered makes a birthday speech that calls America “the hottest country in the world.” The non-incidental celebrations are overshadowed by the ongoing Iran/Israel strikes, now called a full fledged war. Nice Vlad sends his birthday wishes to Trump and volunteers to mediate the MidEast crisis... Iran will probably ask to “borrow” a few nukes. Overshadowing the parades is one man – a Security Guard dressed as a policeman visits two Minnesota state legislators, shooting them and their families, killing two. He leaves behind piles of No Kings literature (but seems to be an anti-abortion, pro life? extremist), a cryptic Manifesto and a Hit List including Gov. (and failed Veep) Walz (not Waltz) who cancels the state’s No Kings protests, citing the “Abundance of Caution”.
Sunday, June 15, 2025 Dow: Closed	Trump’s birthday over, it’s now Father’s Day. The Sunday talkshows had plenty to talk about... the parade, the raids, drones and missile strikes between Iran and Israel; Kings, lawyers and criminals and the development that “overshadowed” them all, according to pundits: the shooting of four Minnesotan, two State legislators and their spouses. Two died – the other two, despite taking 17 bullets between them survived. ABC brought in Washington reporter Pierre Thomas and former FBI agent Brad Garret to say what they could say about the shootings; Thomas revealing that suspect Vance Boelter has military expertise. Garrett says he had financial problems. People who feel powerless “can retain their poer by killing.” Host Martha Raddatz asks if Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini is off Israel’s hit list. Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter says anybody who advocates the destruction of Israel is on the list and that Trump opposed strike “until we succeeded. Then he congratulated us.” On the (all-female) round table, there was agreement that the “No Kings” was peaceful.
Monday, June 16, 2025 Dow: 42,515.09	Parade over, mediots turn to asking why Boelter did it. (Hint: The Bible) Late in the afternoon, he’s caught. Trump, birthdayed and Dadded says he might not support Khameini killing, heads up to Canada for a very hostile G-7 summit after pivoting on his pivot to support ICE raids on farms, hotels and restaurants and lists 36 more banned countries – mostly African, including key Iran/Israeli negotiator Egype. Putin’s offer to negotiate rejected by everybody. Israel says assassination will not escalate the war, “it will end it.” Trump refuses to sign G-7’s diplomatic anti-escalation resolution. Consumers worry Iran/Israel war raises gas prices 20¢ or more. Echoing Ukrain, Djonald UnConcerned says maybe they should just fight it out.” Americans turn to distractions in sports – J. J. Spaun’s long putts win U.S. Open, Oklahoma City and Indiana going to Game Seven in NBA and “How to Train Your Dragon” wins at B/O. (despite cheap AI dragons that look like Jardiance turtles).
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Dow: 42,215.80	It’s National Mascot Day. President Trump walks out of G-7 summit in Canada, stiffing poor new Carney, the EU and Ukraine’s President Z., who flew all the way in to beg Djonald UnAmerican to stop supporting Putin. Instead, he tells the Summiteers that Russia should be re-admitted, China too, then storms off, telling people of Tehran to leave or die, the now-leaderless Revolutionary Guard that the only option is unconditional surrender and maybe greenlighting Israeli assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei. Israel and Iran continue exchanging rockets, drones and missiles. Netanyahu bombs the Iranian state television station and more food lines in Gaza. Russia/Ukraine war drags on too. Back in the U.S.A. ICE arrests obscure NYC mayoral candidate Brad Landry for supporting immigrants – immediately propelling him into competition with disgraced Cuomo, Trump flunkey and Democratic dropout Mayor Adams, an Islamist (the AOC and Bernie-backed Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani) and others in Gotham’s complicated and cryptozőoic New Yorkers now have choice! And hope! The beatdown evokes Sen. Padilla’s seizure at a DHS Kristi Noem press conference and, surprise!... Noem herself has seizures and is hospitalized for allergies suspected to stem from her meeting RFK Junior at a controversial Ebola biohazard lab. She’s recovering, as are two of the four Minnesota politicians shot by Boelter while investigators investigate and the media continues avoiding the motive obvious (above).
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 Dow: 42,171.66	Iran responds to Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender with threats of all-out war. Just in case, the U.S. closes its embassy in Israel as the IDF hacks Iranian banks and refugees fleeing Tehran cause massive traffic jams as they run out of gas. As POTUS says he’s “more comfortable” with attacking the Iranian underground unke farm Fordow (and the prospect of higher gas prices augers bad times for the Dow), Republicans are conflicted. S.C.’s Lindsay Graham is for it, Montana’s Tim Sheehey against. “Things change,” Trump reflects, “especially in war.” He also leaks his nicknames for Kristi Noem (“ICE Barbie”) and Steven Miller (“Weird Steve”)... who rambles on and on about how much he hates “Saturday Night Live”. In the courts, Karen Read, guilty of drunk driving but acquitted of murder, gets probation while SCOTUS rules 6-3 to ban transgender treatments for children in Tennessee. On the courts, Oklahoma City will try to take out Indiana tomorrow while WNBA does a W.O.W. as Caitlin Clarke brawls and falls. Florida (!) beats Edmonton for the Stanley Cup amidst G-7 summiteers and wildfires while Joey Chestnutt, his suspension served, will return to eating hotdogs. Tropical storm Erick gathers off the coast of Mexico as its brother tells him he’s not a hurricane.

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES		(60%)
CATEGORY	VALUE	BASE	RESULTS by PERCENTAGE			SCORE		OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS
INCOME	(24%)	6/17/13 revised 1/1/22	LAST	CHANGE	NEXT	LAST WEEK	THIS WEEK	THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...
Wages (hrly. Per cap)	9%	1350 points	6/5/25	+0.39%	5/25	1,575.83	1,575.83	https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages   31.18
Median Inc. (yearly)	4%	600	6/5/25	+0.06%	6/5/25	745.58	746.04	http://www.usdebtclock.org/   43,804 831
Unempl. (BLS – in mi)	4%	600	6/5/25	+2.38%	6/25	543.13	543.13	http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/ 4.2 nc
Official (DC – in mi)	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.19%	6/19/25	216.26	215.84	http://www.usdebtclock.org/      7,244 258
Unofficl. (DC – in mi)	2%	300	6/5/25	-7.44%	6/19/25	251.89	270.62	http://www.usdebtclock.org/     13,754 2,802
Workforce Participation Number Percent	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.032% -0.004%	6/19/25	299.39	299.38	In 164,231 283 Out 102,323 366 Total: 266,554 649 61.6126 6102
WP % (ycharts)*	1%	150	6/5/25	-0.32%	5/25	150.95	150.95	https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 62.40
OUTGO	(15%)
Total Inflation	7%	1050	6/5/25	+0.1%	5/25	938.67	938.67	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.1
Food	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.3%	5/25	265.50	265.50	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.3
Gasoline	2%	300	6/5/25	-2.61%	5/25	260.38	260.38	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm    -2.6
Medical Costs	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.2%	5/25	279.49	279.49	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.2
Shelter	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.3%	5/25	253.42	253.42	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.3
WEALTH
Dow Jones Index	2%	300	6/5/25	-2.68%	6/19/25	329.67	326.27	https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 42,171.66
Home (Sales) (Valuation)	1% 1%	150 150	6/5/25	-5.63% +1.33%	5/25	121.44 286.03	121.44 286.03	https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics Sales (M):  4.00 Valuations (K):  414.0
Millionaires (New Category)	1%	150	6/5/25	+0.0044%	6/19/25	132.85	132.91	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    23,564 578
Paupers (New Category)	1%	150	6/5/25	+0.021%	6/19/25	132.80	132.83	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    37,421 413
GOVERNMENT	(10%)
Revenue (trilns.)	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.17%	6/19/25	439.37	440.14	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    5,155 164
Expenditures (tr.)	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.11%	6/19/25	288.38	288.06	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,163 171
National Debt tr.)	3%	450	6/5/25	+0.09%	6/19/25	363.69	363.37	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    36,966 999
Aggregate Debt (tr.)	3%	450	6/5/25	+0.16%	6/19/25	380.36	379.77	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    104,354 516
TRADE	(5%)
Foreign Debt (tr.)	2%	300	6/5/25	+0.10%	6/19/25	262.40	262.14	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    9,234 243
Exports (in billions)	1%	150	6/5/25	+3.91%	6/25	180.31	180.31	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 289.4
Imports (in billions))	1%	150	6/5/25	+19.37%	“	155.36	155.36	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 351.0
Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)	1%	150	6/5/25	+128.08%	“	342.58	342.58	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 61.6
SOCIAL INDICES		(40%)
ACTS of MAN	(12%)
World Affairs	3%	450	6/5/25	-0.1%	6/19/25	472.91	471.96	As Americans debate “No Kings”, King Charles confers knighthood on David Beckham. Anti-Trump, anti-tourist anger grows in Portugal and France limits Louvre visits.
War and terrorism	2%	300	6/5/25	-0.3%	6/19/25	288.69	287.82	Anti-abortionist Vance Boelter shoots four Minnesota legislators, kills two. 87 year old veteran arrested for “assaulting” police with his walker. LA arrests five No Kings protesters for terroristic felonies while the wars in Ukraine and the MidEast roll on.
Politics	3%	450	6/5/25	nc	6/19/25	468.06	468.06	Trump booed attending “Les Miz” at the Kennedy Center, which is now his, but gets birthday congratulations from Mad Vlad and crowd at his own parade to which reactions are mixed, but partisan. Then he stiffs the G-7 in Canada. RFK Junior purges vaxxing czar.
Economics	3%	450	6/5/25	-0.3%	6/19/25	436.59	435.28	Stocks crash as Iran/Israeli war hikes oil prices just in time for GM to introduce a super speedy Corvette. Partisans dispute cost of Trump birthday parade – Congress still stalled on BBB. Going Broke: At Home stores.
Crime	1%	150	6/5/25	-0.2%	6/19/25	214.69	214.26	Trump orders ICE to continue raiding farms, hotels and restaurants, causing angry businessmen while agents arrest NY Mayoral candidate Brad Lander for supporting immigrants. Boelter busted (above) now manhunters hunt bad dad who killed 3 children. Baby killed in shooting at Utah festival as Beehive State Sen. Mike Lee celebrates Minnesota assassinations, saying “This is what happens” to “Marxists”. “Bridgerton” star Genevieve Chenneour beats up and arrests phone thirf. Idiot rams cop with his car, brags on social media and is busted.
ACTS of GOD	(6%)
Environment/Weather	3%	450	6/5/25	-0.1%	6/19/25	368.98	368.61	Dedly flash floods strike Texas and Colorado, but miss the DC Parade. (where Trump calls America “hot”) and Phoenix hits 113 and wildfires strike Oregon while the Canadian snoke blankets Minneapolis and Chicago. Erik becomes fifth Pacific tropical storm, but nothing doing in the Atlantic except heat and rain.
Disasters	3%	450	6/5/25	+0.1%	6/19/25	415.30	415.72	One man survives Air India crash. Hundreds of flights cancelled or delayed after a jerk makes a prank bomb threat joke. Girl scouts rescued from Pennsylvania flooding and teen boogie boarder from rip current in Florida, but 11 die in flooding in San Antonio with more watery woes in Oregon and West Virginia. Hiker from California meets the Dalai Lama, then gets lost in Himalayas and is rescued after 9 days of eating bugs.
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX		(15%)
Science, Tech, Education	4%	600	6/5/25	-0.2%	6/19/25	616.45	615.22	Huge eruption on the sun, huge Space X explosion in Texas. Cyber attack on pharmacies and grocers lead to empty shelves and death from pill removal.
Equality (econ/social)	4%	600	6/5/25	nc	6/19/25	660.38	660.38	Grammys react to “Cowboy Carter” by splitting CW awards into Modern and Traditional. Whoopi Goldberg starts Women’s Sports Network. Parents with children ordered to work for their food stamps. Podcaster Alex (not Alice) Cooper accuses Boston University coach (female) if sex crimes.
Health	4%	600	6/5/25	-0.3%	6/19/25	430.30	429.01	Actor Noah Wylie (E.R., “The Pit”) advocates for health care workers who are quitting en masse due to overwork. Zepbound reduces prices: to $499.mo as scientists say it causes cancer in rats. Recalled: 82,000 Harley Davidson cycles, Jolly Rancher carcinogenic candies, Gummi vitamins with Peanuts, salmonellic pistachio ice cream and listerial Chicken Fettucini recalled from WalMart and Kroger. Bugaroo high chairs that fall over. Kraft will remove colordul ood dyes from jello and mac n’cheese. TV doc Varma says eat algae instead.
Freedom and Justice	3%	450	6/5/25	nc	6/19/25	485.48	485.48	In the courts Purdue Pharma settles opioid suits for $7B., Matthew Perry Doctor Death convicted, Harvey Weinstein mistrialed, Karen Read jury convicts her of drunk driving but acquitted of murder, Diddy juror replaced and perennials Kohberger, E. Jean Carroll and Blake Lively lively up Tabloid World,
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS			(6%)
Cultural incidents	3%	450	6/5/25	nc	6/19/25	562.63	562.63	Golfer Scottie Scheffler says too many gamblers are threatening golfers and demanding money, then loses US Open to J. J. Spaun. LPGA turns 75 as 28% of pro golfers are female. Florida (!) wins Stanley Cup, NBA goes to final game Sunday. BTS does first concert after 3 year hiatus due to Covid and military service. In Hollywood, dumb “Dragon” wins at B.O. (above). Songwriter Mike Love inducted into Hall of Fame. Oscar-less Tom Cruise (4 failed nominations) and Dolly Parton (2) get honorary awards. RIP: actor Harris Yulin (“Ghostbusters”), former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro, TV chef Anne Burrell. R(etired) IP: ABC Times Square Studio. Retired... well, fired, NBC’s Theresa Tomlinson
Miscellaneous incidents	4%	450	6/5/25	nc	6/19/25	539.08	539.08	Pope Leo gives viral video mass in Chicago. Swarm of bees kills nine backyard chickens. Can they catch the Bird Flu? Hammerhead Shark falls out of the sky onto South Carolina golf course. GM (food company) apes Kraft in banning colorful foods, GM (car company) introduces a super-speed Corvette for the hot rod boys. Partisans debate crowd and staging of army/Trump parade.

The Don Jones Index for the week of June 12^th through June 18^th, 2025 was UP 8.70 points

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ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM ROLLING STONE via YAHOO

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ENGAGES IN ‘STAR WARS’ COSPLAY TO DEMONIZE IMMIGRANTS

Peter Wade Sun, May 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM EDT

Warning: Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

The Trump White House shared a graphic image of Trump, veiny biceps and other inhuman muscles bulging, holding a red light saber in celebration of May the Fourth — an informal Star Wars holiday and pun on “May the Force be with you.” Meanwhile, the administration’s chief Border Patrol agent posted a video depicting the agency as Darth Vader killing rebel soldiers. The administration, apparently, doesn’t mind that these depictions seem to align them with the antagonists of the film franchise.

“Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy,” the White House posted on social media alongside the likely AI-generated image. “You’re not the Rebellion — you’re the Empire. May the 4th be with you.”

Trump, who has promised to deport millions of immigrants, has deported thousands since taking office (139,000, according to the White House), including sending hundreds of men he claims are gang members to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador without due process.

Keen Star Wars fans quickly pointed out that Trump’s red light saber suggests he is a member of the Empire led by the Sith, bad guys in the films who practice the dark side of the Force. The Jedis are the heroes in the Rebellion who use the Force, an energy source that permeates and connects everything in the universe, for good — including to fight against the evil empire.

“Embarrassing Stalinist level propaganda from Trump’s White House,” Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman posted on X (formerly Twitter). “This would work better if the AI represented Trump as Jaba the Hut.”

A U.S. Border Patrol video, titled “Border Wars” and posted today by Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, took a clip from Star Wars spinoff Rogue One where Darth Vader massacres rebel forces. Border Patrol labeled Vader as “Premier Sector,” referring to the agency’s El Centro Sector, which covers much of the southern border with Mexico.

The clip opens with Star Wars-style titles: “Episode one: Border Patrol strikes back. The Premier Sector, in pursuit of a ship occupied by threats to the United States, is intercepted on its way to the galaxy’s most notorious sanctuary for lawlessness… Mos Eisley… AKA California…” (In the films, Mos Eisley is a spaceport on Tatooine where aliens of all kinds gather from around the galaxy.)

The video then cuts to Border Patrol Vader wielding a red light saber to kill rebel forces that the video labeled as fentanyl, sanctuary cities, cocaine, human smugglers, invasion, and fake news.

X users jumped on the post to inform Bovino that Border Patrol is identifying with the films’ antagonists. One account responded to Bovino with a meme that asked “Are we the baddies?”

Bovino replied, defending the artistic choices: “I think ole Darth had the ultimate situational awareness against threats to the homeland. So do we which is why our border is the most controlled now than ever before.”

Another user asked, “Just for clarification, who were the bad guys in Star Wars?”

“We’ve depicted who the bad guys were in this video,” Bovino replied. “Watch again as they are labeled as such.”

Not wanting to be left out, Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, joined in with a depiction of himself holding a red light saber.

Even in their confused jokes and AI-generated memes, the administration cannot escape the uncomfortable truth: They are the baddies.

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM FOX

TRUMP TO HOST MILITARY PARADE TO CELEBRATE ARMY'S 250TH BIRTHDAY, HONOR ACTIVE-DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS, VETERANS

Brooke Singman Published May 2, 2025 2:21pm EDT

President Donald Trump will host a military parade in June to honor military veterans and active-duty service members and commemorate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The parade is scheduled for June 14, the 250th birthday of the United States Army and Trump’s birthday. 

TRUMP TO CREATE TASK FORCE TO PLAN 'EXTRAORDINARY CELEBRATION' FOR 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICA'S INDEPENDENCE

The parade will have reenactors, equipment and more from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War/Desert Storm and the Global War on Terror (Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria). It will also feature active-duty service members and students at U.S. military academies.

"The president is planning an historic celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday that will honor generations of selfless Americans who have risked everything for our freedom," White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley told Fox News Digital. 

"Exactly 250 years ago, the first American patriots died for the cause of Independence. We owe our freedom to them and to every solider who has given their life for our nation in the 2½ centuries since." 

The parade comes after Trump, in January, signed an executive order creating "Task Force 250," which is focused on coordinating the plans and activities celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence. The 250th anniversary of America's founding is July 4, 2026.

"As one of the first events of the year-long celebration of our 250th anniversary, this commemorative parade will be a fitting tribute to the service, sacrifice and selflessness of the brave men and women who have worn the uniform and devoted their lives to defending the greatest experiment in liberty known to man," Vance told Fox News Digital. 

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE RELEASES VIDEO SERIES LEADING UP TO AMERICA'S 250TH BIRTHDAY: 'ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE'

The White House is coordinating closely with the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service and a number of other agencies to plan "this spectacular event honoring our veterans, active-duty service members and military history," an official told Fox News Digital. 

"We love our military and take great pride in honoring our warfighters," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Digital. "In celebration of 250 years of the U.S. Army, we will throw the biggest and most beautiful military parade in our nation's history." 

Meanwhile, the task force is coordinating "the plans and activities of federal agencies for an extraordinary celebration of the 250th Anniversary of American Independence." 

Task Force 250 builds upon the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration half a century ago. The celebration "emphasized national renewal of our founding ideals after a period of national unrest and division," the White House told Fox News Digital.

AHEAD OF TRUMP SPEECH TO CONGRESS, FLASHBACK TO 2017 ADDRESS ASKING ‘WHAT WILL AMERICA LOOK LIKE’ AT 250

In the lead-up to the major 2026 celebration, the White House has celebrated the anniversaries of major events in America’s founding, including the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s "Give Me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in March, the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s famous ride in April and the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 

The executive order that established the task force also reinstated executive orders from Trump's first administration, establishing the National Garden of American Heroes, a statuary park memorializing 250 historically significant Americans, and commissioning artists for the first 100 statues. 

The National Garden of American Heroes honors "American heroism" after dozens of monuments to Americans, including presidents and Founding Fathers, were toppled or destroyed and never restored.

The order also reinstated an order to protect American monuments, memorials and statues from destruction or vandalism.

The White House said America’s 250th anniversary will "afford an opportunity to unite the American people around their d history and common future as a nation."

During Trump's first term, he held a unique "Salute To America" event on the Fourth of July in 2019, which was different from typical Independence Day celebrations put on by past presidents. 

The event included a prominent display of military hardware with tanks parked near the National Mall and military flyovers by an array of aircraft. It also included an address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from the president and the typical fireworks display.

ATTACHMENT THREE – FROM DAILY BEAST

FOX NEWS LACKEY, 25, IS RUNNING TRUMP’S 79TH BIRTHDAY PARADE

The appointment comes after an inexperienced 22-year-old was picked to run a DHS prevention team.

By Farrah Tomazin Updated Jun. 14 2025 9:58AM EDT Published Jun. 13 2025 9:31PM EDT 

A 25-year-old former Fox & Friends producer has been tasked with overseeing President Donald Trump’s lavish military parade and putting on an even bigger bash next year: America’s 250th birthday.

Ariel Abergel graduated from college in 2021, briefly worked at the White House during Trump’s first term, and cut his teeth as a young producer on the popular morning show that catapulted the career of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In an Instagram post marking his departure from Fox earlier this year, Steve Doocy reminisced about a trip they had taken through snowy Iowa, affectionately referring to him as “Ari the driver” and “an actual friend and wonderful producer.”

Now, he’s the executive director of America250, an initiative that was set up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4 next year.

Ahead of that epic shindig, Abergel is also overseeing Trump’s military parade, which takes place on Saturday in Washington, D.C. as the president celebrates his 79th birthday.

But according to a new report in The Atlantic, numerous Trump allies have also been brought into the fold, sparking concerns that America250 — which is meant to put on non-political events overseen by a bipartisan commission and backed by Congressional spending—has been “hijacked” to prop up the president.

“It is unfortunate that what was meant to unite the country and honor its history has been twisted into yet another scheme for his own personal gain,” Democrat Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is a member of the Commission, said in a statement to the Daily Beast.

“Tomorrow’s military parade has little to do with honoring our troops or marking the 250th Anniversary of the Army or our nation’s founding - yet it’s being run under the banner of America250 without advance notice to, or consent from, the members of the Commission.”

According to The Atlantic report, several Trump campaign allies now work alongside Abergel, including senior adviser Chris LaCivita, events planner Justin Caporale, and fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke.

Anti-Trump Clown Protests Planned Across AmericaNO JOKE

Former Fox contributor Monica Crowley, who is now the U.S. chief of protocol, is the group’s media representative.

Meanwhile, a list of donors on the America250 website is filled with corporations that have sought to align themselves with Trump, including UFC (run by Trump ally Dana White); Palantir (the tech company co-founded by JD Vance benefactor Peter Thiel); and Amazon (headed by Jeff Bezos).

And the operation reportedly helped fundraise for the president’s speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday.

As tensions flared in Los Angeles over his immigration crackdown, Trump spent part of the speech hitting out at everyone from the “fake news” media and former president Joe Biden to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass.

Abergel’s role at America250 comes on the heels of news that Thomas Fulgate, a 22-year-old college graduate with no previous national security experience, had been appointed to head up a Department of Homeland Security terror prevention team.

The Daily Beast reached out to the former Fox & Friends producer and America250 for comment but did not hear back before publication.

Rosie Rios, the chair of America250 and a former treasurer under Barack Obama, was quoted in The Atlantic praising Abergel and the team for bringing a “fresh perspective” to connect with Americans across the country.

Trump, meanwhile, has previously defended the America250 mission as well as his military parade in Washington, which he says will be “unforgettable.”

Trump’s U.S. Terror Prevention Chief Is Ex-Gardener Aged 22 WEEDING OUT TERRORISM

So too has Crowley, who told Breitbart in an interview: “This is not simply a military parade. This parade is going to be a tribute to our history. It’s going to be a patriotic celebration of the Army’s legacy, and it’s also going to be a call to inspire the next generation of service-minded Americans.”

The parade is expected to cost up to $45 million according to conservative estimates. It will feature 61-tonne Abrams battle tanks, a fleet of armoured Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, as well as Black Hawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters.

But as tanks and howitzers roll through the streets of downtown D.C. on Saturday, millions of people are expected to march in cities and towns across the U.S. in a display of defiance against the president and his policies.

One campaign, Kick Out the Clowns, will feature activists holding street circuses to highlight what it says is the “absurdity” of the Trump administration. Another protest, known as No Kings, will seek to push back against authoritarianism in America.

“We’re in an existential crisis with respect to our democracy and our Constitution right now, in the face of a wannabe dictator in the White House,” said John Bonifaz, a constitutional lawyer and president of Free Speech for People.

ATTACHMENT FOUR – FROM GUK

TRUMP’S MILITARY PARADE TAPS AN ANCIENT TRADITION OF POWER: FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO MAGA

Critics see echoes of authoritarianism, a break from the US’s usual restraint on military display

Robert Tait in Washington Sat 14 Jun 2025 04.00 EDT

To Donald Trump, the inspiration is the pomp and pageantry of Bastille Day, France’s annual celebration of the 1789 revolution.

For his critics, it is redolent of the authoritarian militarism proudly projected by autocracies like Russia, China and North Korea.

Despite its military prowess and undoubted superpowers status, overt military displays in civilian settings are the exception rather than the rule in US history.

But in bringing to the streets of Washington DC on Saturday the military parade Trump has long hankered after he – consciously or otherwise – is tapping into a tradition that harks back to antiquity.

The first known instances of victorious exhibitions of military might date back to ancient Mesopotamia, whose territory now comprises modern-day Iraq and parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran.

Mesopotamian emperors decorated their palaces and citadels with friezes portraying heroic conquests. Portraits would display a massive potentate striding ahead of his troops and crushing on his opponents’ skulls.

Military parades were also integral rituals of the Roman Empire, where generals and emperors who had won battles would march from the field of Mars into the temple of Jupiter, witnessed by thousands of adoring peasants.

The looted possessions of conquered nations were said to be conveyed in chariots, while abducted barbarians were dragged along in chains. Slaves were encouraged to murmur “Memento mori” (remember that you will die) to their captors, it is said, as part of a drama supposed to link the Roman public to its leaders.

In one depicted image, created in the 19th century by the artist Bartolomeo Pinelli, the Roman military leader, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, is seen leading his triumphant army to Rome after defeating the Gauls, having personally triumphed over their leader in one-to-one combat.

These Roman rituals were later adopted by European countries as they evolved into nation states and sought to project images of power and military potency.

The military parade is widely believed to have been refined in Prussia, a European state that later became part of a unified Germany under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck.

Featuring choreography including salutes, precise spacing between soldiers, and goose steps, the Prussian model became a prototype for other armies in Europe and beyond.

Other European countries had different versions, that have in some cases become annual rituals.

In Britain, starting during the reign of Charles II, Trooping the Colour is held every year on Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace to celebrate the sovereign’s birthday. This year’s parade, celebrating the birthday of the current King Charles, coincidentally takes place on Saturday, which is also Trump’s 79th birthday.

Staring under the Soviet Union and continuing in present day Russia, Moscow plays host on 9 May every year to victory day, commemorating victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war. During the cold war, the parades, featuring Red Army soldiers marching through Red Square viewed by the Soviet leadership, became a symbol of Moscow’s implacable hostility to the west in the ideological struggle between capitalism and communism.

Red Square was the venue for what is believed to be the largest military parade ever staged, on 24 June 1945, when 40,000 troops and 1,800 armored vehicles passed through to mark victory over Germany.

This year’s occasion, marking the 80th anniversary of the war’s end, featured even greater pomp than usual, with troops from China, Egypt, Belarus and several central Asian countries marching alongside their Russian counterparts. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was among several international statesman joining Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, in the reviewing stands.

Comparable displays of military muscle are seen in China. The national day parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square – marking the anniversary of the Communist regime’s ascent to power – is now a once-a-decade affair but used to occur more regularly.

The most recent event, which took place on 1 October, 2019 to celebrate the regime’s 70th birthday, was billed as the biggest military parade and mass pageant ever held in China.

Beijing’s ally, North Korea, holds annual parades to celebrate the date of the state’s founding, as well as separate events to mark the birthdays of its dynastic leaders.

Strikingly, if less well-documented, Pyong Yang’s parades are mirrored by equivalent events in democratic South Korea, which stages armed forces day annually on 1 October to mark the anniversary of its troops crossing the 38th parallel during the Korean War.

By contrast, choreographed exhibitions are much rarer in the US.

Kim Jong-un inspects his troops before the parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea in Pyongyang on 09 September 2018, North Korea. Photograph: API/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The most recent parade was instigated by Trump himself during his first presidency when – apparently triggered by having watched a Bastille Day parade alongside the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris – his administration organized a Salute to America event to coincide with the 4 July celebrations in 2019.

That display on Washington’s national mall included aircraft flyovers, presentations of military vehicles and an address by Trump at the Lincoln memorial.

It was the first military parade in the US Capitol since a June 1991 extravaganza, watched by an estimated 200,000 spectators, to celebrate expelling Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces from Kuwait in the first Gulf war. Tanks and Patriot missile batteries were rolled out while Stealth fighter jets flew above a parade led by general Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of coalition forces in the conflict.

The 1953 presidential inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower, a former general of US and allied forces in the second world war, included a parade by 22,000 troops and even a nuclear-capable canon. In similar vein, John F Kennedy, a decorated military veteran, had military hardware on show at his 1961 inaugural.

Others notable military parades took place to mark the end of the first and second world war, as well as the American Civil War.

A ticker tape welcome was afforded victorious troops, including 13,000 members of the 82nd airborne division, in a spectacular victory parade in New York in 1946 that was seen by an estimated four million people.

Similar parades were staged in New York and Washington in 1919, with General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force that had fought in France, leading 25,000 parading soldiers in full battle dress.

In 1865, after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, his successor Andrew Johnson ordered a two-day grand review of the armies. The result saw about 145,000 soldiers from the armies of the Potomac, Georgia and Tennessee marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, to be reviewed by victorious Union generals, Ulysses S Grant, William Sherman and George Meade.

In general, however, US presidents have avoided explicitly militaristic displays – until now.

A stark contrast to Trump’s bullish attitude was offered by his Republican predecessor, Gerald Ford, who declined to take part in the military parades organized for the 1976 bicentennial celebrations, citing the enduring negative sentiment over the Vietnam war.

Ford’s posture may seem extreme but it may be more in keeping with the feelings of America’s founding fathers towards militarism, according to Jonathan Alter, a historian who has chronicled several US presidencies.

“The United States was founded by men who were admirers of the Roman Republic, which had an important law that military commanders could not bring their troops into Rome,” he explained.

The law, however was violated by Julius Caesar, who crossed the Rubicon river in 49BC with his forces at the start of a civil war that was to result in him acquiring dictatorial powers.

“It was a hugely significant thing, and a violation of 400 years of very important Roman tradition which the founders of our country were quite aware of,” Alter said. “That’s the way military dictatorship lies, if you have the head of state bringing his army into the capital.

“We have a more modest tradition when it comes to showing military power. It goes back to George Washington. There’s always been a sense that tanks in the capital are a bad sign, even if it’s just for a parade.”

ATTACHMENT FIVE – FROM ABC

THIS WOULD MAKE GREAT TV': HOW DONALD TRUMP GOT THE MILITARY PARADE HE WANTED

The Army's birthday party began as a live-action show on the National Mall.

By Anne Flaherty June 14, 2025, 6:07 AM

What to expect at Trump’s military parade in DC

Saturday's military parade in Washington, D.C., will honor the 250th birthday of the Army and the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump.

In June 2024, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his aides were at a Virginia military base where the service was putting on one of its live-action shows for kids and families.

The event -- a decades-long tradition known as the "Twilight Tattoo" -- was a spectacle. Soldiers from ceremonial units reenact the history of the Army, complete with Revolutionary War garb, music, theatrical vignettes and military pageantry, all meant to serve as a kind of salute to Army soldiers and their families.

George and his top communications adviser, Col. Dave Butler, were attending with several media executives, when one of them leaned over.

"This would make great television," the executive said, according to Butler.

George and his staff had already been talking about how to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday. Maybe, they thought, the National Park Service would let them host one of their live-action shows on the National Mall, the officials thought.

After President Donald Trump took office and the June 14 birthday was getting closer, the Army began to toss around more ideas. One idea was to add tanks or other iconic Army equipment to an exhibit parked on the National Mall where tourists could learn about the Army's history of fighting the nation's wars.

Butler said he doesn't remember who first broached the idea of turning the Army's show into a parade. But once the idea was floated, no one seemed to push back.

By June, the Army had a plan of what they would include: 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, 50 aircraft flying overhead including World War II-era planes and high-tech weaponry like rocket launchers.

Trump, a former media executive himself, seemed game to the idea. One official involved in the planning described it like "knocking on an unlocked door."

"We wanted to reintroduce this nation's Army to the American people," Butler said. "To do that, we thought we needed to be in their living rooms and on their phones. We needed something that would catch the national eye."

Criticism over cost

As the Army prepares for its birthday parade in downtown Washington on Saturday, not everyone is on board. About 6 in 10 Americans say that Saturday's parade is "not a good use" of government money, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The White House has not released an estimate of the parade's cost, with only the Army's portion of moving troops and equipment expected to cost up to $45 million. Security is expected to add significantly to the price tag.

Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Army veteran who deployed with the Illinois National Guard during the Iraq War, said the money would be better spent on helping troops pay for essentials like child care.

"Donald Trump's birthday parade has nothing to do with celebrating the Army's 250th birthday -- it's to stroke his own ego and make taxpayers foot the bill," said Duckworth.

Duckworth and other Trump critics also note a military parade is often associated with countries like Russia and North Korea, where dictators march its soldiers and equipment through their streets. Advocates are organizing protests in cities other than Washington -- dubbed the "No Kings" protests.

Trump, who turns 79 on Saturday, said he wants a military parade to show how great the country is. The president first pushed the idea in 2017 after attending the Bastille Day parade and celebration in France, saying he wanted to "try and top it." That effort was canceled after price estimates topped $90 million.

When asked Thursday what he hopes the public will remember about the American parade, Trump said, "How great our country is, very simple, and how strong our military is."

"We have the strongest military in the world," he added.

According to Army officials involved in the planning effort, including Butler, the White House helped the Army plan the birthday celebration as an event focused on the Army's service to the nation.

There are no plans currently, for example, to sing the president happy birthday. The president also is not expected to speak, leaving much of the festivities to the soldiers.

According to the schedule, Trump will watch the tanks and soldiers march down Constitution Avenue from a viewing stand near the White House. Toward the end of the event, he will receive a flag from a soldier who will parachute on to the White House Ellipse. After that, the president will give the oath of enlistment to some 250 soldiers.

The event concludes with fireworks over the Tidal Basin.

Still, there are some of Trump's fingerprints on the event. In the final days leading up to the event, the White House made an unusual request. Trump, they said, wanted the Air Force to bring its fighter jets to the Army's party. If weather allows, the Thunderbirds will now do a flyover.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly defended the move to let the Air Force participate in the Army's birthday parade.

"The President wants the Army Birthday Parade to feature the strength, talent, and creativity of all our military servicemembers," she said in a statement. "The Thunderbirds flyover will inspire patriotism and awe for all who attend!"

ATTACHMENT SIX – FROM NEWSWEEK

'BARACK OBAMA DAY' CELEBRATION PLANNED TO CLASH WITH TRUMP'S BIRTHDAY:-2

By Kate Plummer Published Jun 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM EDT -

Plans to celebrate a new "Barack Obama Day" have been scheduled to coincide with President Donald Trump's birthday as protests against Trump continue.

Posting on social media, Americans encouraged people to celebrate the former president on June 14, despite the 44th president's real birthday being August 4. It comes amid a growing backlash to the current president.

Why It Matters

The social media action comes as activists are coordinating a protest on June 14, targeting a military-style parade planned by the Trump administration on Flag Day, which coincides with the president's birthday.

The parade will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET and will last for three hours until 9:30 p.m. "The parade will take place on Constitution Ave NW between 15th Street and 23rd Street," according to the America250 website. "Guests are invited to convene along the parade route or view from the Washington Monument Grounds."

Around 200,000 are expected to attend the parade, officials told Business Insider, which reported that 6,700 troops are scheduled to participate, including soldiers on active duty and in reserve, special forces and the National Guard. Some will be wearing the uniforms worn by soldiers in historic battles.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will be forced to shut down for several hours on June 14 to accommodate the parade, affecting more than 100 flights and thousands of passengers, according to The Washington Post.

Concurrently, there are 1,800 protests planned across the country for June 14, with millions expected to attend.

ATTACHMENT SEVEN – FROM FRANCE24

US SET FOR MILITARY PARADE AND ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS ON TRUMP’S BIRTHDAY

US President Donald Trump is set to preside over a military parade at Washington, DC's Lincoln Memorial on his 79th birthday Saturday, as demonstrators ready to stage nationwide anti-Trump "No Kings" protests underscoring the deep divisions over his second term. In Los Angeles, armed Marines have been deployed amid protests against Trump's immigration policies. 

Issued on: 14/06/2025 - 09:44Modified: 14/06/2025 –

The massive military parade that President Donald Trump has long wanted is set to step off from the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday evening, with tanks, bands and thousands of troops.

And the biggest question marks are whether it will be overshadowed or delayed by either the weather in Washington or planned protests elsewhere around the country.

Falling on Trump’s 79th birthday, the parade was added just a few weeks ago to the Army’s long-planned 250th anniversary celebration. It has triggered criticism for its price tag of up to $45 million and the possibility that the lumbering tanks could tear up city streets. The Army has taken a variety of steps to protect the streets, including laying metal plates down along the route.

The daylong display of America’s Army comes as Trump has shown his willingness to use his fighting forces in ways other US presidents have typically avoided, inviting an array of lawsuits and accusations that he is politicising the military.

He has deployed the California National Guard and US Marines to provide security during Los Angeles protests tied to immigration raids. It marks the first time in 60 years that a president activated the National Guard on federal orders inside a state without a governor’s permission, and California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a lawsuit to stop the deployments.

Earlier in the week, Trump raised eyebrows during a speech at Fort Bragg when members of the 82nd Airborne Division were directed to stand behind Trump and they booed and cheered during his incendiary remarks, including condemnation of his predecessor, Joe Biden. There also was a pop-up “Make America Great Again” merchandise stand nearby selling souvenirs to troops in uniform.

The Defense Department has a doctrine that prohibits troops from participating in political activity while in uniform. Members of Congress and military leaders have expressed concerns about the political displays during the speech at Fort Bragg.

Trump so far has shrugged off concerns about the parade cost, the rainy forecast and the potential for protests.

“What a day it will be!!!” Trump wrote on his social media site, adding later that he hoped the weather would cooperate but that if it doesn't, “that brings you good luck. That’s OK too. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t affect the tanks at all. Doesn’t affect the soldiers. They’re used to it. They’re tough. Smart.”

As for the protests, he warned that “they will be met with very big force”.

The “No Kings” rallies planned in hundreds of cities nationwide are meant to counter what organizers say are Trump’s plans to feed his ego on his 79th birthday and Flag Day. No protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, however, and officials have said they so far have no indication of any security threat.

About 6 in 10 Americans say Saturday’s parade is “not a good use” of government money, including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

The parade will wind down Constitution Avenue, which is already lined with security fencing and barriers. Army helicopters and aircraft will fly above, and the march will be capped off by a parachute jump, a concert featuring “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood and fireworks.

With rain expected, there is a chance the parade could be interrupted by thunderstorms. 

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly has said the march will go on rain or shine. But it could be delayed if there is lightning, with authorities quick to empty the expansive National Mall if it happens during major events.

The parade fulfills Trump's expressed desire for a big parade that he tried to get done in his first presidential term after seeing one in France on Bastille Day in 2017. Trump said that after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Élysées, he wanted an even grander one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend the festival and parade. The festival will begin around 9:30 am EDT and feature fitness competitions, demonstrations, equipment displays, music and a cake-cutting ceremony.

The parade is set to begin at 6:30 pm EDT, but parts of it – including the horse-drawn caissons and other units – start at the Pentagon, head over a bridge and meet up with some of the heavier tanks and equipment. Officials did not want the more-than-60-ton M1A1 Abrams tanks and Stryker vehicles crossing the bridge.

Timed down to the minute, the march will be divided into sections by history – with equipment and troops in full dress from each period.

It will include a total of 6,169 soldiers and 128 Army tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery, while 62 aircraft fly overhead.

At the end of the parade, Trump will swear in 250 new or reenlisting troops, and the Army's Golden Knights parachute team will jump onto the Mall. That will be followed by the concert and fireworks.

ATTACHMENT EIGHT – FROM TIME

TRUMP PICKED THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME TO HOLD A MILITARY PARADE

By Philip Elliott

It’s sometimes easy to go numb living here in Washington. On most days, the Vice President’s motorcade rumbles under many of our office windows, traveling from the Naval Observatory to the White House in the morning and back shortly after his workday ends. It’s not uncommon to spot a trio of white-topped helicopters zipping over the Potomac while crowds are having dinner down at The Wharf; one is transporting a head of state while the other two are decoys. And was that the Irish Taoiseach hanging out at Little Gay Pub and Kiki on St. Patrick’s Day weekend? Yes, that nation’s then-leader was visiting from Dublin and making the rounds on the LGBTQ circuit after his official day ended.

But the scene in my neighborhood the last two nights stood as a stark reminder that this weekend is shaping up to be surreal, even by D.C. standards. It’s been hard to miss the military tanks rolling by on flatbed trucks around Eckington, Bloomingdale, and Shaw, heading past the city’s convention center to get in position for a pricey parade on Saturday ordered by President Donald Trump. And if that spectacle were not shocking enough on its own, these giant weapons of war have been rumbling through residential streets in the U.S. capital at the same time as U.S. troops are deployed in the nation’s second-largest city to help advance deeply unpopular immigration raids that have sparked protests across the nation.

The jarring split-screen reality is one that is arriving at perhaps the most tone-deaf moment so far of Trump’s second term. Ostensibly, the parade is marking the quarter-century birthday for the U.S. Army. (It also just happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday, which is a very convenient coincidence that has even some of the President’s apologists rolling their eyes at the cover story.)

On the West Coast, as many as 2,000 National Guardsmen have been ordered up for active duty in Los Angeles, in direct violation of protocols that defer to each state’s Governor, who is nominally the commander in chief of their reserve military. Trump also sent 700 Marines to Los Angeles to add to the uniformed legions that, to this point, have inflamed tensions, not quelled them. And there are whiffs that Los Angeles is merely a test case to see just how compliant Americans will be to see the world’s greatest fighting force turn against the very people who pick up its tab. As Trump told reporters on Tuesday, those choosing to object publicly may come to regret it: “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

So as Trump stands in Washington this Saturday, watching M1A2 tanks, Stryker armored vehicles, and M109s tear up some of D.C. iconic boulevards, an actual live military operation stands to be unfolding on the streets of Los Angeles—and maybe other cities as well, given Trump’s orders are not limited to that one locality. D.C.’s airspace will be shut down for hours to make way for flying fortresses to buzz overhead. And a trick parachute troop plans to airdrop to the viewing platform to deliver Trump an American flag that is destined to land in his future presidential library.

It’s one thing to watch a military display for show; it’s another to watch live ammo be fired into the air to put down domestic demonstrations. The disconnect between Trump’s stagings of brute force is striking and more than a little worrisome for those who have long thought civilian control of the military would have stopped such a craven choice.

Trump has long fetishized the military hardware he controls. During his first term, he sought to flash this power after seeing a similar demonstration on a visit to France for Bastile Day; his military brass convinced him it was a bad idea and not worth the price. Given his long-standing obsession with autocratic regimes, it’s little surprise that he is plunging ahead with a flex that feels more like something we’d see in Moscow or Pyongyang. 

The public is far from covering Trump’s flank here. Trump’s standing in polls sank underwater in March and hasn’t recovered since, according to Nate Silver’s modeling. A Quinnipiac poll out Wednesday puts Trump’s approval rating at a measly 38%. He’s even drawing a decided deficit on immigration and deportations—previously thought to be his best issues. Going back through post-World War II polling indices, Trump is faring worse than any President since 1953, save for how he was doing during his first term, according to analyst G. Elliott Morris.

So as D.C. streets are clogged with war tools staging for Saturday’s pricey pageant—6,600 soldiers, 50 aircraft, and 150 military vehicles at a price of as much as $45 million—it’s worth reminding ourselves that this is a show that seems to have little purpose beyond boosting Trump’s ego. But as his legions of supporters like to say, forget your feelings. The American public is not behind this show, let alone the policies that the White House is hoping it distracts from.

The split screen between Washington and L.A. is disturbing, the implications dire. It’s easy to forget that the nation and the world watch what happens in Washington far closer than the folks who live it day to day, and the war footing being adopted in a city fast approaching warzone timbre is not one that inspires confidence in America as the world’s peacemakers. In fact, Trump’s birthday blowout could be seen as a reboot of the entire post-Cold War ethos America has strived to convey for the last three decades—all over a parade coinciding with a domestic military crackdown.

ATTACHMENT NINE – FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

FACT SHEET: PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP RESTORES MERIT AND LETHALITY TO AMERICA’S ARMED FORCES 

The White House January 27, 2025

ELIMINATING RACE- AND SEX-BASED DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THE ARMED FORCES: 

Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to restore merit and lethality to America’s fighting force. 

· The Executive Order bans the use of discriminatory race- or sex-based preferences by any element of the Armed Forces, the Department of Defense, or the Department of Homeland Security.  

o This Order also abolishes any remnant of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

· The Secretary of Defense will task the Department of Defense with conducting an internal review of all instances of race- or sex-based discrimination based on Department of Defense DEI initiatives.

o This Order also requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to review the curriculum at the United States Service Academies and other academic institutions to ensure these institutions eliminate radical DEI and gender ideologies.

ENDING AN ERA OF ASSAULT ON MILITARY DISCIPLINE AND CULTURE: Foreign adversaries are strengthening their fighting forces every day while the United States has deliberately been focused on radical ideology like DEI. The world is watching. 

· Prior to harmful changes introduced by the Obama and Biden administrations, the United States military offered equality of opportunity to every American capable of and interested in serving their country. Yet these two administrations exploited the military in favor of identity politics—harming our national defense, undermining the non-political nature of our military, and eroding morale and recruitment.

o Due to this “woke” assault, the Services together logged their lowest recruiting records since 1940 with a 41,000-troop shortfall in 2023.

· Today’s Order moves our military away from this dark period and renews esprit de corps, readiness, and focus. It returns the Pentagon to the warfighter.

· This Order also combats ideologies that seek to divide our Armed Forces by race, sex or other immutable characteristics and thus tear at cohesion and military efficacy.

RESTORING A WARFIGHTING MINDSET: The Armed Forces of the United States exist to preserve our freedom and the American way of life. 

· President Trump is committed to a merit-based system of sex-neutral policies and colorblind recruitment, promotion, and retention that will return our military to greatness.

· President Trump vowed to get rid of the “woke” generals who prioritize social experiments over warfighting. He stated in his 2024 reelection campaign that “…[y]ou can’t have a woke military…You need people that want to win. They want to win wars. That’s what their purpose is, to win wars, not to be woke… but we do have great military.”

ATTACHMENT TEN – FROM DAILY BEAST via YAHOO

TRUMP PARADE PLANNER EXPECTS CROWD TO SERENADE PRESIDENT FOR HIS BIRTHDAY

By Josh Fiallo Tue, June 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM EDT

The State Department’s chief of protocol said Tuesday she expects parade-goers to serenade President Donald Trump with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” this month.

Monica Crowley, a former Fox News pundit whom Trump appointed, admitted on Steve Bannon’s podcast Tuesday that the Washington parade on June 14, officially to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, will also celebrate Trump’s 79th birthday.

“June 14 is a special day,” she said. “Of course, it’s the president’s birthday, so I’m sure the crowd will break out into a ‘Happy Birthday.’ Providential. And it’s also Flag Day, Steve. Meant to be. Hand of God, for sure.”

The massive parade in the U.S. capital has been criticized by Democrats, both for its estimated cost in the tens of millions, which contradicts the administration’s supposed goal of reducing federal spending, and because it is on Trump’s birthday.

Crowley, 56, promised to make the event a spectacle.

“Personally, I know it means a lot to the president,” she said. “He wanted to organize a 250th birthday badge for the United States Army, the first of the divisions of the U.S. military to be created. And we’re going to throw a national celebration for the Army and the military writ large.”

The estimated cost of the parade is between $25 million and $45 million, excluding the costs of a major cleanup operation and the millions needed for the district’s roads, which are likely to be damaged by M1A1 Abrams tanks rolling across them.

The New York Times reported that there have been discussions about having the Golden Knights, the Army’s parachute team, glide down onto the street and deliver an American flag to Trump.

Crowley made no mention of the report, but said the evening parade will feature “Army and military technology” that goes as far back as the Revolutionary War, in addition to today’s “cutting-edge technology rolling down those streets.”

“We are going to honor America’s veterans, both past and present, including our wounded warriors and our Gold Star families,” she said.

Fireworks will follow the parade, she added, as well as a ceremony in which Trump will oversee the reenlistment of 250 U.S. Army soldiers.

The White House has insisted that this month’s parade is about U.S. soldiers, their families, and American patriotism, but not the president personally. Still, Crowley and other White House aides who discuss the parade cannot help but make the parade about Trump.

“This is an absolute gift, Steve, that America 250 is happening now while President Trump is in office,” Crowley said. “Once again, it really is a gift, and we all want to make sure that we celebrate in a manner that is fitting, not just of this extraordinary president, but of ours extraordinary country.”

ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – FROM CBS

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP'S ARMY ANNIVERSARY PARADE ON JUNE 14

The Army is commemorating its 250th anniversary with a festival and parade in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 14, which is also President Trump's 79th birthday. The event, according to Army officials, is expected to include about 6,600 soldiers, as well as about 150 vehicles and over 50 aircraft in the celebration. 

Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the festivities, D.C. officials told reporters in a briefing Monday.

Here's what else to know: 

Why is the festival and parade being held on June 14? 

The Second Continental Congress, on June 14, 1775, voted to establish official companies following the fighting at Lexington and Concord against British troops. Congress voted to create the Continental Army and then on June 15 put George Washington as commander in chief. 

Planning has been in the works for almost two years to commemorate the anniversary with a festival, according to Army officials, but a parade was only added earlier this year. Army officials said the Army is not expected to officially recognize Mr. Trump's birthday. 

How much will the event cost? 

Army officials estimate the entire festival and parade could cost between $25 million and $45 million but did not disclose the cost before the parade was added to the schedule. 

When asked by members of Congress about the justification for the cost as the Trump administration has sought cuts across the federal government, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the United States has an "an amazing opportunity" to tell a story about the Army. 

"I believe very specifically that telling that story will directly lead to a recruiting boom that will fill up our pipeline for the coming years," Driscoll told the House Armed Services Committee. 

What is the parade route? 

On June 14, the festival will take place on the National Mall in D.C. from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The parade will start at 6:30 p.m., running from 23rd Street NW along Constitution Avenue to 15th Street NW and wrap up around 7:30 p.m. A fireworks show will follow the parade at 9:45 p.m. 

When was the last time D.C. hosted a military parade? 

The most recent time D.C. hosted a military parade was in 1991, to mark the end of the Gulf War. The National Victory parade featured around 8,000 service members, and about 200,000 people watched the parade. According to The Washington Post, the event cost $8 million. 

How has the military prepared for the event? 

The Army has been laying down metal plates to prevent damage to D.C. roads by some of the heavier equipment like M1A1 Abrams tanks, which can weigh over 60 tons. If there is any damage to the roads, the Army has committed to pay for the repair. 

An Army spokesperson said the military will strategically place 1-inch steel plates — in sizes ranging from 4 feet by 8 feet to 8 feet by 20 feet — at points where the equipment will turn.

U.S. Army Col. Jesse Curry, director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, said during a security briefing on Monday that in addition to the plates, "the tanks all have brand new rubber track pads placed on them, which increase the padding that they have underneath each track to minimize that potential damage, and it's a parade, so they're going to be moving slowly."

What soldiers and equipment will participate? 

About 6,600 soldiers representing every era of the Army's 250 years of history are expected to participate in the parade, according to Army officials. In addition, the Army anticipates about 150 vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft will participate in the celebration.

The parade will feature different eras of the Army's history, from the Revolutionary War to the modern era and into the future with corresponding uniforms and equipment. 

Army officials say among the equipment included will be 26 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 27 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, two World War II Sherman tanks, a World War I-era Renault tank, eight CH-47 helicopters, 16 UH-60 Black Hawks and four WWII-era P-51 aircraft. 

See parade map here

ATTACHMENT TWELVE – FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES

Donald Trump's 79th birthday: Military parade route, time and what to expect on June 14

All you need to know about June 14 military parade in Washington, DC, as Donald Trump's birthday coincides with the 250th anniversary of the US Army 

Jun 13, 2025 09:06 PM IST

Donald Trump turns 79 on June 14. The president’s birthday coincides with the US Army’s 250th anniversary, meaning Washington, DC, will host a grand military parade. The event is expected to feature 150 vehicles, 6,700 troops and 50 aircraft, according to the US Army. The day also comes on the heels of intensified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles, which sparked a wave of protests in the city.

According to the Guardian, the military parade will feature 28 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicles, four tracked M-109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, 28 wheeled Stryker combat vehicles and other towed artillery.

 Thirty-four horses, two mules, and one dog will also be a part of the parade. Additionally, rocket launchers and precision-guided missiles will be showcased at the event. A flypast will feature Apache and Black Hawk helicopters alongside World War II-era B-25 bombers and P-51 Mustang planes. 

The projected cost of the event is between $25 million and $45 million. As many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the event. The occasion will also include a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as an Army birthday festival and fitness competition on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Donald Trump's birthday military parade route and time

The parade will move along Constitution Avenue from 23rd to 15th streets in DC and end near the White House. Parachutists with the Army's Golden Knights team will jump onto the Ellipse and offer a folded flag to Donald Trump. The procession will begin at 6:30 pm, per ABC News. A fireworks show is also planned at 9:45 pm near the Tidal Basin.

No Kings protests on June 14

Millions are expected to gather at over 2,000 locations across the US for the ‘No Kings’ demonstrations. A website for the protests cites policies of the Trump administration, such as mass deportations, federal layoffs, attacks on civil rights and defiance of the judiciary as the reasons behind the event. “The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings,” states the website for the protests.

ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – FROM TIME

TRUMP’S MILITARY PARADE OVERTAKES WASHINGTON, AND KINDLES ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS ACROSS REST OF U.S.

By Brian Bennett

The contrast was stark. In the nation’s capital, tens of thousands came Saturday to the National Mall to cheer on a military parade marking the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army—which also happened to fall on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

Elsewhere around the country, in small towns and large cities, far greater numbers—organizers say millions—gathered to chant “No Kings” and protest Trump’s deployment of military might against protestors in Los Angeles, as well as his expansive use of Presidential power to intimidate elected officials and judges, purge the government of independent watchdogs, block Congressional funding to agencies and universities, and ignore Constitutional guarantees of due process.

The protests unfolded first—some taking place in the morning, others midday and in the afternoon—creating the largest mass opposition to Trump since his inauguration 145 days ago. The parade kicked off in the evening, with a contingent heavy with MAGA hats and shirts lined up at the National Mall and along Constitution Avenue to watch paratoopers jumping out of an airplane and World War II fighters escorting a bomber past the Washington Monument. Through it all Trump was seated at a reviewing stand in front of the Washington Monument, alongside his wife, and much of his Cabinet, all of them behind bullet-proof glass.

The parade showcased America’s military history through thousands of Army troops marching past in historical uniforms—starting with the American Revolution and continuing through both world wars and on to the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The narration of the parade, which alternated between history lesson and recruiting ad for the Army, occasionally thanked private companies such as Lockheed Martin, Coinbase and Palantir.

"Whenever duty calls, whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there,” Trump said in his speech later that evening, just before a fireworks show. 

It’s unclear if Trump viewed the event as living up to its inspiration—the Bastille Day parade he witnessed in Paris in 2017 alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, with marching troops and military vehicles parading past the iconic Arc de Triomphe toward him. The grandiose display transfixed Trump, who came back to Washington and was set on organizing his own version. But the planning proved expensive and city officials were concerned about the damage tanks and military equipment would do to the streets of the capital.

In a second term where he has knocked down many of the guardrails he encountered in the first, plans for the military parade came together quickly.

It was hard to predict how Trump’s long-desired military parade would unfold at such a charged moment in which he had deployed federal troops on US soil and was grappling with an escalating direct conflict between Israel and Iran. A political assassination in Minnesota further added to the tension.

Yet for many attending the parade, the focus was on the nation’s strength and not its challenges.

"It is just a day to be a proud American,” says Crystal Sykes, 58, a nurse who took the train from her home in North Carolina to be at the parade. She wore the red Make America Great Again hat that she's had since Trump's first term, with a pin attached to it that displays Trump's name and the American flag in sparkling rhinestones. "If the military doesn't have our support, nobody will want to join." 

The Army estimated the events, which included Army fitness demonstrations and activities on the National Mall, would ultimately cost somewhere between $25 million to $45 million. That included the costs to repair damage to Washington, D.C. streets from Abrams tanks.

"I wish it cost less, but I like it,” says Joey Ink, a 19-year-old college student from Maryland, who attended "to show support for the military, the veterans.” Ink says he voted for Trump but wouldn't call himself a Trump supporter.

Trump’s long-sought parade proved to be an effective rallying point for hundreds of protests around the country—with estimates of 100,000 in Philadelphia, 50,000 in New York City, 30,000 in L.A. and 20,000 in Chicago. The lead organizers purposely didn’t plan an event in Washington, but some protesters showed up there as well anyway.

Read more: Inside Trump's Mass-Deportation Operation

In front of the White House that afternoon, a banner read “All Hail Commander Bone Spurs.” as a crowd of about 500 people chanted “Trump must go now!” The location of the protest—Lafayette Park—was the same area where five years earlier, Trump had infamously used the National Guard to clear protestors so he could walk over to a nearby church and pose with a Bible. “We have to do something or it’s going to be the end of democracy,” says Jill Taylor, 60, a speech pathologist who traveled to Washington from Kansas to protest Trump’s military parade.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, in nearby Takoma Park, Maryland, hundreds of people packed the sidewalks of a major road holding signs reading “No Kings” and “F–k ICE”. Martha Dominguez, 25, a mental health professional living in nearby Landover, says she was there because of Trump's immigration policies. Federal agents pulling people from jobs and off the street has left her afraid, even though she is a U.S. citizen. “I feel targeted every time I go out of the house,” says Dominguez. “Trump thinks he’s all that,” she says. “He thinks he’s a king. We are going against that because no one is above the law.”

Even farther out from Washington and other major cities, people gathered in smaller communities like Mountainside, N.J., where roughly 500 people lined both sides of a busy, four-lane divided highway and spanned a footbridge adorned with a sign reading, “No Kings Since 1776.” Those who braved the rain in the town of 7,000 included Lex and Sean, who brought their two kids—ages five and three—to their first protest, and Connor 25, who was visibly upset as they talked about having queer friends and a trans sister. “People I care about are getting attacked by the administration, and that's just not something that I can live with if I sit by and do nothing.”

Back in Washington, the parade was followed by a performance by country musician Warren Zeiders and Trump delivering the Oath of Enlistment to a group of soldiers. “Welcome to the United States Army and have a great life,” Trump told them. 

Not far away, one of the few protesters still in downtown Washington found themselves surrounded by a small crowd chanting "Trump Trump!" A park police officer walked over and the crowd eventually dispersed.

—Leslie Dickstein contributed reporting from Mountainside, N.J.

ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – FROM FAST COMPANY

NO KINGS DAY: JUNE 14 PROTESTS SET TO BE BIGGEST YET, WILL COUNTER TRUMP MILITARY PARADE IN LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE.

Here’s what to know

Millions of Americans are expected to turn out on Saturday, which is also Trump’s birthday, for pro-democracy demonstrations organized by Indivisible.

BY JENNIFER MATTSON 06-10-2025 NEWS

June 14 is shaping up to be a big day, with millions of Americans expected to take to the streets in an event dubbed “No Kings Day,” which organizers have said will likely be the largest single-day turnout of the anti-Trump, pro-democracy protest movement since President Donald Trump took office for a second term in January.

Organizers expect 1,800 rallies will take place on Saturday for “a nationwide day of defiance” in every state and major city across the country—except Washington, D.C., as to avoid clashes with the Army’s 250th anniversary celebrations, which will be held that day in the nation’s capital (more on that below).

In a statement to Fast Company, the No Kings organizers described their event as “peaceful, organized, and united.” They added: “Make it clear: We don’t do kings in this country.”

The No Kings website further explains: “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like . . . On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he [Trump] isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”

The No Kings protest is sponsored by Indivisible and a broad coalition of over 180 partner organizations, including: the ACLU, Common Cause, Greenpeace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Standing Up for Science, and a number of unions, including the Communication Workers of America and teacher federations.

“Even conservative estimates say that 3.5 million people turned out for the Hands Off mobilization on April 5,” Indivisible’s Ezra Levin told Fast Company. “No Kings [in the U.S] is on track to exceed that by millions more . . . With events [in] red states, blue states, purple states, rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas, United States, North America, Europe, South America—we’re all over.”

The anti-authoritarian, pro-democracy protests aim to counter President Trump’s multimillion-dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., that day to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary, which will be held on Trump’s 79th birthday, which is also Flag Day.

According to the Associated Press, Trump has long wanted a military parade, which is expected to feature 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles, and 50 helicopters on a route from Arlington, Virginia to the National Mall, where there will be a fireworks display.

The Army initially estimated that the cost for the day’s birthday celebrations, including the parade, would range from $25 million to $45 million, with the cost now looking closer to $40 million, according to USA Today. The celebrations come at a time when the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed budgets and jobs at federal agencies, including the Defense Department, per the AP.

The parade’s enormous price tag has further angered many Americans and Trump critics already fed up by the president’s overall mishandling of the economy from tariffs to immigration, which has been dubbed the TACO presidency, for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – FROM THE MIRROR, U.K.

1,800 US CITIES HOSTING 'NO KINGS DAY' PROTESTS THIS WEEKEND TO RALLY AGAINST TRUMP'S MILITARY PARADE

Several cities across all states, U.S. territories and countries abroad will hold counter 'No Kings Day' protests to President Donald Trump's military parade Saturday

By Falyn Stempler 12:33 ET, 11 Jun 2025 Updated 11:45 ET, 12 Jun 2025

Millions of people are expected to attend over 1,800 "No King's Day" protests across the United States this weekend to counter President Donald Trump's military parade in Washington D.C. on Saturday.

The protests are planned in cities across all 50 states and Puerto Rico as well as several countries abroad, including Colombia, Germany, Italy, Malawi, Portugal and the United Kingdom, according to organizers. The protests are expected to be the largest demonstrations against the Trump administration since he resumed office in January.

Organizers said the protests will aim to counter Trump's 250th anniversary U.S. Army parade scheduled to take place in the nation's capital on Saturday in tandem with his 79th birthday. Hundreds of military tanks and aircraft are expected to roll through the streets of Washington, D.C., for the event, which officials project will cost between $25-$45 million while leaving upward of $16 million in damages to the city streets outside.Tory Party

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"On June 14—Flag Day—President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else," protest organizers said.

"No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like. We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind."

Organizers emphasize that the protests will be nonviolent and have warned protestors against carrying weapons or escalating confrontations with any dissenters or law enforcement.

The biggest protests are expected to take place in a handful of major cities across the country, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Organizers explained that there is no protest planned in the nation's capital in an effort to prevent clashes with the MAGA movement.

"We want to create contrast, not conflict," said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the protest partner groups. "The choice to hold No Kings events in every city but D.C. is a deliberate choice to keep the focus on contrast, and not give the Trump administration an opportunity to stoke and then put the focus on conflict."

Meanwhile, anti-ICE protests that began Friday in Los Angeles have carried into its sixth day with no end in sight. Trump sparked a bitter feud with California Governor Gavin Newsom after he authorized the deployment of 4,000 National Guards and 700 Marines to LA to confront pro-immigration protesters.

The Pentagon said it cost $134 million to send the troops to the city, which was described as mostly peaceful until they arrived on Sunday. Trump's move was subject to intense backlash from Newsom, prompting his office to file a motion to block the president's troop deployment decision.

Over 25 cities across the country have hosted anti-ICE protests, according to NBC News.

Additionally, thousands are expected to attend newly-crowned Pope Leo XIV's first hometown mass in Chicago on Saturday, where the Catholic priest is expected to deliver an address to young people.

Meanwhile, the Women's March movement is organizing a separate protest called "Kick Out the Clowns." Organizers say 320 events are planned and over 13,000 people have responded. The group wrote on their website, "June 14 is our chance to reflect the absurdity of the MAGA regime and the clowns who lead it."

The civil unrest echoes an eruption of protests that took place recently, including the "Hands Off" protests in April as well as the "Black Lives Matter" protests against police brutality and systemic racism in 2020 and the "Women's March" in the wake of the #MeToo movement during Trump's first inauguration in 2017.

ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – FROM WASHINGTON TIMES (WITH PEANUT GALLERY)

LEFT WING STAGING NATIONWIDE ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS TO COUNTER TRUMP’S MILITARY PARADE

By Susan Ferrechio - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 12, 2025

Liberal groups are planning to rain on President Trump’s military parade Saturday with hundreds of organized protests set to take place in cities across the country.

More than 200 left-wing groups and workers unions, including the American Federation of Teachers, are participating in the “No Kings” event, which, according to organizers, will be a “mass mobilization” in protest of Mr. Trump and his administration, who they say has acted like a king since taking office in January.

“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” organizers said in a recruitment ad.

The protests were timed as a repudiation of Mr. Trump’s parade Saturday in Washington to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. military.

The oppositional gatherings are likely to be fueled further by the Trump administration’s stepped-up actions to deport illegal immigrants, which have sparked riots in Los Angeles and other cities.

Mr. Trump shrugged off the looming protests.

“I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through Hell to get stuff approved,” Mr. Trump said Thursday at a bill signing event in the East Room. “We’re not a king at all.”

· Feds bring first spit-and-hit charge against illegal immigrant in Los Angeles

· Army aims to build, repair drones ‘in-house’ as 3D-printing revolution accelerates

· Trump said he will invoke Insurrection Act if necessary

Earlier this week, he deployed the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles to quell rioters who have destroyed property, set cars on fire and injured law enforcement in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who are arresting illegal immigrants.

Mr. Trump also said Los Angeles “would have burned to the ground,” if he had not deployed the National Guard to the city.

The “No Kings” event has ties to the nation’s wealthiest liberal donors.

One of the main organizers, the anti-Trump group Indivisible, has received more than $7.5 million from George Soros since 2017. Another billionaire Democratic donor, Walmart heiress Christy Walton, paid for full-page, color ads in the New York Times that promote the “No Kings” protests.

Other “partners” for the event include Greenpeace, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, the Service Employees International Union and Sierra Club.

Unlike the anti-ICE riots, the No Kings protests are supposed to be peaceful, at least according to organizers.

Hundreds of cities and towns are listed on a map as participating in the event with planned rallies and marches. Several cities in Mexico and Canada are also slated for No Kings rallies.

In a June 10 online “No Kings Day town hall,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and an organizer from the left-wing activist group Indivisible, advised watchers “what you can do on June 14 to take positive, nonviolent action in your community,” and warned “our students, our neighbors and our democracy are on the line.”

The biggest protests are planned for Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and other big cities.

The organizers say they aren’t planning a No Kings event in Washington. They want to shift attention away from the nation’s capital, where, they said, the president is rolling out tanks and other military equipment in a show of dominance on his birthday.

Mr. Trump turns 79 on Saturday.

“Instead of allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption,” organizers said.

The group said it has organized 1,800 events in communities across the country “to uphold democracy and protect our rights.”

Red-state governors say they are ready to crack down on unrest.

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said he’ll deploy 5,000 National Guard members and 2,000 state police officers across the state to tamp down any violence that erupts at several No Kings rallies planned in the state.

In Florida, where dozens of No Kings rallies are planned, the state police will be on standby, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, and he’ll deploy the National Guard if necessary.

PEANUT GALLERY

JerzyMichael

Democrats are the party of domestic terrorism

josephbridges

Betcha that the only cities that see violence will be those in Blue strongholds where the governments condone the rampage of leftists!

Raconteur

"The group said it has organized 1,800 events in communities across the country “to uphold democracy and protect our rights.”

Shouldn't they say "uphold our republic"? I realize that they want a democracy so that they can "vote in" a democracy to establish a socialist utopia, but they could be a bit more subtle about it. Curiously the leftists never tell us what "rights" they are willing to protect and which rights they are willing to make privileges under government control.

GaretAldridge

What these incomprehensible balls of fecal material do not seem to get is this the 250th Birthday of the United States Army. Coincidentally it is President Trump's birthday, as well.

Tell you what. You dump on MY Army's (30 years) Birthday, and I get to come to your house on your birthday and ruin it for you as best I know how.

olejim

TRUMP needs to get DOE struck from his next year's budget... every 'state' can handle the 3% 'net they now use for non-edumukashunal welfare programs !!!

concernvoters

Protestors need to get a job other than being paid by George Soros to protest.

concernvoters

Biden administration defied court orders, and kept giving away tax payer money to pay off student loans.

concernvoters

Local Judges are acting like the kings they where not elected and they are defying elected president.

AngryWebmaster

They can protest all they want. The instant they move towards "Action" (Violence an other illegal activity), Taze them and toss them into jail.

concernvoters

Arson is terrorism.

concernvoters

No Kings LOL. Trump is doing what the decisive majority of USA Americans elected him to do.

SadlyOrwellian

Mass hysteria defines the Democrat Party.

ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – FROM USA TODAY (TAKEAWAYS)

'NO KINGS' RECAP: SUV DRIVES INTO CROWD; RALLIES LARGELY PEACEFUL, DRAW BIG CROWDS

Large crowds joined 'No Kings' day protests across the U.S. against the Trump administration.

By N'dea Yancey-Bragg Sarah D. Wire Jeanine Santucci Jonathan Limehouse Jay Calderon and Brian Day

Demonstrators filled the streets of U.S. cities and towns in coordinated "No Kings" events, billed as a "national day of peaceful protest," in the largest outpouring of opposition to Trump's policies since he returned to power in January.

The mostly calm marches, organized under the theme that no individual is above the law, coincided with the day President Donald Trump hosted a military parade on the streets of the nation's capital.

At least one demonstration, about 70 miles from Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia, was met with violence when a man intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person, police said. Police in Los Angeles hit protesters with batons, fired tear gas and ordered a large crowd in downtown to disperse; authorities said they were responding to people throwing "rocks, bricks, bottles," and "fireworks" at officials.

Activists in some areas braved wet weather to raise signs and chant slogans. supporting the rights of immigrants and criticizing what they view as a power grab by the Trump administration.

Some protests took on a festive atmosphere, while others were more tense, involving confrontations with counterprotesters. 

Members of the far-right Proud Boys appeared at a "No Kings" protest in Atlanta, wearing the group's distinctive black and yellow colors.

In Minnesota, organizers canceled protests across the state out of an abundance of caution after a shooter targeted local lawmakers, killing one and her spouse at their home and injuring another lawmaker and his spouse at their residence. In a statement, the "No Kings" group said it was adhering to guidance from Minnesota State Patrol and Gov. Tim Walz, who urged people not to attend any rallies Saturday.

In Florida, marchers came as close to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Palm Beach estate, as police would allow and were met there by Trump supporters. Tens of thousands marched in Philadelphia, where the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.

More gathered in northern and southern California for protests, marches and a car cruise. Organizers drew attention, ahead of the events, to the marches planned in Los Angeles, where President Donald Trump called in the National Guard and the Marines after some protests over immigration enforcement raids spiraled into violence.

“I have a lot of family members that are immigrants and basic human rights are being taken away on a daily (basis),” Los Angeles resident Beatriz Pérez, 27, told USA TODAY in the lead up to the city's protest. Perez added that she hoped the country’s leaders “have a change of heart.”

Are people protesting more than usual? 'Jaw-dropping' number planned on Trump’s birthday

'Rocks, bricks, bottles.' Then tear gas, officers wielding batons.

The largely peaceful protests during the "No Kings Day" demonstration in downtown Los Angeles took a violent turn in the afternoon. Police ordered the crowd to disperse at about 4:15 p.m. PDT near Alameda Street and Temple Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Division.

"People in the crowd are throwing rocks, bricks, bottles and other objects," police said via social media. "Less lethal has been approved. Less lethal may cause discomfort and pain. It is advised that all persons leave the area."

Officials reported about an hour later that "commercial grade fireworks" were being hurled at officers at Temple Avenue and Main Street.

Photographs showed protesters reacting to tear gas and dispersing as sheriff's deputies and police cleared the area.

The police on horseback and other officers used flash-bang grenades and tear gas to push people around the federal building, which has been a focus of much of the protests, Reuters reported. Videos posted by Patch show the officers on horseback swinging what appear to be batons as they back the demonstrators away from the area.

Shortly before 5:40 p.m. local time, authorities reported a peaceful march was making its way out of downtown L.A., west into the Rampart area; however, they reported that "agitators" continued causing issues downtown.

Ariel footage from ABC 7 later showed police deploying tear gas and flash-bang grenades about 6 p.m. Police advised protestors that the curfew for the area was in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

– Jay Calderon, The Desert Sun, Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press, and Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY

Organizers say 5 million people joined the protests

The American Civil Liberties Union, a part of the coalition that put on the demonstrations, said in a late Saturday, June 14, statement that more than 5 million people participated in over 2,100 rallies and protests.

Political organizing group Move On, who was a partner in the "No Kings" rallies, echoed the 5 million person estimate in a fundraising email.

Jeremy Pressman, the co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium – a Harvard University and University of Connecticut project that estimates political crowds – told USA TODAY June 15 that it will take "some time" to complete an estimate on the "No Kings" rallies.

− James Powel

How many attended the rallies? 'No Kings' organizers say protests drew large crowds: Here are their estimates

Action in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC

Thousands of people of all ages turned out in and around Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan, many carrying homemade signs that played off the “No Kings” theme. “No crown for a clown,” said one. Actor Mark Ruffalo was among the demonstrators, wearing a hat that read "immigrant."

“We're seeing dehumanizing language towards LGBT people, towards people with autism, towards people with other disabilities, racial minorities, undocumented people,” said Cooper Smith, 20, from upstate New York. “Somebody’s got to show that most Americans are against this.”

Protesters in downtown Chicago stood off against police on Saturday, with some waving upside-down American flags and chanting: “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” and “No justice, no peace."

About 400 protesters organized RefuseFascism.org marched through Washington, D.C., and gathered for a rally in a park opposite the White House. Trump had warned people against protesting at the parade itself, saying, "They're going to be met with very big force."

Sunsara Taylor, a founder of RefuseFascism, told the crowd, “Today we refuse to accept Donald Trump unleashing the military against the people of this country and in the streets of this country. We say, 'hell no.'”

– Reuters

50 towns in Wisconsin rally

Wisconsinites in more than 50 towns and cities took to the streets on June 14, as part of what organizers said was the largest nationwide protest against President Donald Trump's second-term agenda.

In downtown Milwaukee, organizers estimated the crowd reached almost 10,000 people, according to Alan Chavoya, a protester with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Protestors chanted and sang in Cathedral Square Park, before marching a mile loop around part of downtown.

"This is what democracy looks like," Chavoya said.

Janey Christoffersen, 49, of West Allis, said she was attending a protest for the first time, motivated by local reports of federal arrests of immigrants.

"It was a no-brainer to be here," Christoffersen said, speaking through tears. "I want to get out of my comfort zone to show people that we love and care about them, that the whole country is not angry."

– Maia Pandey, Rose Androwich, Francesca Pica and Anna Kleiber

Virginia police arrest man who 'intentionally' accelerated into 'protest 'No Kings' protest

As a protest wound down in Culpeper, Virginia, a man intentionally drove an SUV through the crowd of departing pedestrians and struck at least one person in the parking lot, police said in a statement on social media.

The Culpeper Police Department identified the driver as Joseph R. Checklick Jr, 21. Police said they have not yet identified the person who was hit and no injuries have been reported to law enforcement.

–Jonathan Limehouse

Commotion, horns blaring, traffic

Protesters brought traffic to a standstill at an intersection one block west of Los Angeles City Hall, where a massive crowd had assembled across the street. Motorists blared horns in joyful revelry as passengers waved American and Mexican flags.The commotion took place a couple of hundred yards from the Los Angeles Police Department's downtown headquarters. An LAPD helicopter circled overhead.Lt. Shawn Svoboda was one of about two dozen LAPD officers watching – and making no effort to clear the mob or the intersection. Svoboda said the LAPD didn’t want to escalate the situation for something that amounted to a traffic violation. And so the horns blared, flags waved and rubber burned as one muscle car revved its engine and filled the air with smoke. Svoboda said officers would not break up the affair, but that the 8 p.m. curfew would be enforced.

– Josh Peter

White House protesters disperse before military parade

The demonstrators outside the White House are dispersing after more than an hour of protesting.

Hundreds are headed home, to the metro, and back to their hotels.

Leo Pargo, one of the event’s organizers, said they have no plans to protest the parade beginning at 6:30 p.m.

– Rachel Barber

'Democracy takes time'

About 1,000 people gathered Saturday in downtown Wooster for the 'No Kings' rally despite scorching heat.

Demonstrators held handmade signs and chanted under banners that read “No Kings,” “There Are No Illegal People” and “Protect Our Neighbors.” “It’s just not normal,” said Mark Johnson, 53, of Wooster. “We have U.S. Marines and National Guard troops being used against American citizens.”

“Ever since he took office, it’s been building,” said Megan Duckworth, 34, of Ashland. “Calling in the Marines on your own people? It’s horrifying. And what happened in California, that was the tipping point for a lot of us.”

“I feel scared,” said Lola Franks, who came with fellow Wooster resident Debbie Idle. “My father was a World War II vet. He’d be appalled to see what’s happening now. We’re seeing authoritarianism creep in. We’ve seen this before and it doesn’t end well.”

The rally drew a cross-section of the community − students, veterans, retirees, families and first-time demonstrators, many of whom cited the same issues of militarization, mass deportations and erosion of democratic norms. Bill Bostancic, 99, stood beneath a handmade sign that read “Democracy Takes Work.”“I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime; sometimes too much,” he said. “But I’ve never seen anything like this. If you don’t work at democracy, it slips away.”

LA’s 'No Kings' rally route comes to a peaceful close

After a roughly 2-mile protest route, thousands made their way back toward the steps of Los Angeles' City Hall and Grand Park to hydrate, gather and simply stand in solidarity against Trump’s mass deportation efforts in the city.

Across the street from Grand Park — where many people stayed put, recharging and getting some shade in the 80-degree, sunny weather — organizers kept the energy going in front of City Hall steps.

A lively crowd, hundreds strong, were standing in the streets when a fitting call and response went up.

“Whose streets?”

“Our streets!”

Isabella and Mark Garcia were among those sardined in the street. They said they attended a protest last week and officers targeted them with non-lethal munitions.

Two hours into the “Kings Day" march, there were no visible confrontations with law enforcement. “It’s the same (as last week) except they’re not shooting at us today.”

– Josh Peters and Pamela Avila

Philadelphia's 'No Kings' protest winds down

Tens of thousands of people headed into Philadelphia for what was expected to be the “major flagship” event of the "No Kings" protests. Anticipation rose and rain fell as demonstrators flooded past the perimeter of LOVE Park, waiting for the official start of the march. 

The front lines of the protest made it to the Museum of Art just shy of 1 p.m. with cheers and a chant of “U.S.A.” Helicopters continued overhead, joining the sounds of the march and music coming from numerous speakers attached to the stages, platforms and risers on the museum’s lawn.

The event began with a performance from local band Trash Boy, before Bishop William J. Barber gave an impassioned speech to the crowd.

Hundreds of attendees could be seen leaving Saturday’s rally early, heading down Benjamin Franklin Parkway just after 2 p.m. as speakers continued.

The rain that began earlier in the day seemed to dampen the mood for some, but not all. Kevin Reilly and Eric Reisman from the Ambler area said they’re happy with how the protest went. 

“It was peaceful,” Reisman said. “A smash success.”

Reilly’s son’s girlfriend is moving here from India, he said, growing emotional. “She’s really afraid. I want her to feel welcome.”

While there had been a strong police presence throughout the protest, no major incidents were reported by the time the crowd began to dissipate.

— Shane Brennan and Chris Ullery, USA TODAY Network

Texas state capitol evacuated over 'credible threat toward state lawmakers planning to attend a protest'

Police arrested a man hours after the Texas State Capitol and grounds in Austin were evacuated on June 14 ahead of a planned protest after a credible threat to lawmakers, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

A state trooper arrested a man in connection with the threats during a traffic stop in La Grange, Texas and police said there was no additional threat.

A protest against President Donald Trump, dubbed the "No Kings" event, was beginning at the Texas Capitol around 5 p.m. CDT. Police around the United States were on high alert after a gunman posing as a police officer killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota in an apparent politically motivated assassination, and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, state officials said.

– Reuters

Protesters face triple-digit heat in Phoenix

A large crowd gathered peacefully for a "No Kings" demonstration at the Arizona State Capitol. Some held signs stating, "I'm not part of a MAGA agenda!" and "Hey Trump! Nobody paid us to be here! We all hate you for free!"

As speakers took to the stage in Phoenix, participants tried to stay cool amidst the rows of white pop-ups set up for groups and vendors. A National Weather Service forecast called for a high of 109 degrees and an extreme heat warning to begin at 10 a.m. 

Sara Wester, of Mesa, 23, attended the protest with her mother, Lynn Dumais. She carried a sign that read “LEAVE YOUR MAGA HUSBAND.”

The mother-daughter pair braved the heat because they felt strongly about exercising their right to protest.

“It’s our duty. It’s our right, it's our Constitutional right. And fighting for standing up for what you believe in is one of the biggest things that makes America America,” Wester said.

- Stephanie Murray, Arizona Republic

Thousands of protesters turn up in New York suburbs

In Nanuet, New York, people lined all the sidewalks along an intersection known as the "Four Corners." It's been the site of various demonstrations going back at least 50 years.

Clarkstown police and protest organizers had a calm and detailed discussion about perimeters. Vehicles honked frequently in the heavily traveled corridor, earning appreciative cheers from the crowd.

By noon, the demonstration had swelled to well over 1,000 protesters and Clarkstown police could be seen putting up more orange barriers as a buffer between the roadway and sidewalk.

Ciara Sweeney, of Pearl River, made hand-painted posters with a caricature of Trump behind bars and the words "IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT CRIMINALS BUT THE PRESIDENT IS." She and her mother turned out for the day's demonstration to counter the military parade in D.C., "just to show there are protests everywhere. People think people have given up," Sweeney explained. "That's not true."

Sweeney said it was important to show up in the suburbs, too. "Don't count out Rockland County," the 20-year-old said.

-Gary Stern and Nancy Cutler, The Journal News

LA protest kicks off with inflatable Donald Trump balloon after slow start

The crowd could not have been more delighted when a 20-foot balloon of Trump wearing a diaper was inflated and made its way through a sardined crowd at the Los Angeles' Gloria Molina Grand Park.

Timmy Vu of Los Angeles found himself almost in the direct path as the balloon was led onto the street as the March began.

“Probably a good representation of our president,” Vu said with a smile as a woman yelled, “Make room for the balloon.”

Vu, 32, said he came to the rally mostly to “get ICE out of L.A."

As protestors caught sight of about a dozen National Guard members lined in front of federal buildings, they chanted “out of LA” at them.

The chants didn’t prompt a reaction from the National Guard, and one man expressed what looked like frustration to one of the guards close to his face. Another woman was heard thanking them for their service.

Brent Blair showed out to the LA protest with his 16-year-old daughter, Amara Blair, and two sons, ages 10 and 6.“This country is in crisis; we’re upside down. We are slipping really fast into a fascist dictatorship,” said Brent, a professor at the University of Southern California.

His two younger sons stood nearby holding up their homemade signs. For Brent’s daughter, Amara, exercising her First Amendment rights isn’t new — she was protesting with her father at a young age when Trump was first elected into the White House in 2016.“It is so important to protect our people,” Amara said. “We have a president that doesn’t respect us at all and we all deserve to be safe and to feel safe.”

- Pamela Avila and Josh Peter

‘Refuse Fascism’ demonstration begins in D.C.

There weren’t any "No Kings" protests originally scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. during Trump’s military parade, but reports early Saturday afternoon show a small demonstration beginning to form.

A group called “Refuse Fascism” started assembling in Logan Circle with about 500 people reportedly marching to Lafayette Park just in front of the White House.

“Fascist America – We say no! Now’s the time for Trump to go,” the crowd chanted, according to the NBC affiliate in Washington.

– Phillip M. Bailey

California man arrested for allegedly threatening shooting at 'No Kings' rally

A La Quinta man threatening violence at a "No Kings" rally has been arrested, the Palm Springs Police Department announced Saturday morning.

Edward Miranda, 28, allegedly threatened to commit a shooting at the Palm Springs "No Kings" rally, police said on social media.

Police became aware of the threat, which was posted online, and worked with the FBI to identify Miranda and locate him at his residence. He was taken into custody without incident and is expected to be charged with one felony count of criminal threats and a misdemeanor count of threatening to interfere with civil rights.

Law enforcement executed search warrants at two residences and located a firearm belonging to Miranda, PSPD said. Police did not say in their post if Miranda remained in custody.

"We take all threats to public safety seriously and will vigorously pursue those intent on committing violence in our community," Chief Andy Mills said in a statement. "Thanks to the vigilance of a community member who saw something and said something, along with the tireless efforts of our PSPD detectives and FBI partners, we were able to identify and apprehend the suspect, ensuring the safety of tonight's event."

Thousands gather outside in the rain at Indiana Statehouse

Thousands gathered at the south end of the Indiana Statehouse. By Saturday afternoon, an organizer of the 50501 “No Kings” protest, tracking the crowd with a clicker had counted more than 4,150 people.

Among them was Leland Lindahl, 47, who said he voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

“As soon as January 6 hit, I immediately regretted it,” Lindahl said.

Lindahl said while he doesn’t agree with everything some of the protesters believe, he came to the Statehouse because he didn’t want to sit on his couch and complain — he wanted to take action.

Other protesters displayed signs that were largely handmade with markers, paint and printed photos on cardboard and posters. With a light rain falling, several people opened umbrellas, including some with protest signage attached to them.

As the rain intensified, protesters began to march and chant, "America has no kings," and passing cars honked to cheers of those gathered. The organizer directed protesters to grab whistles from a bucket to alert others if they became involved in a confrontation with a counter-protester.

Indianapolis police detained one protester after he ripped a pro-Trump flag from the hands of a counter-protester. The counter-protester ran after him but tripped and fell. His left elbow was bleeding as he showed officers his scuffed knee.

– Cate Charron and Marissa Meador, The Indianapolis Star

'No Kings' rally draws thousands to downtown Louisville

On the steps of Metro Hall in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, protesters began gathering before noon, carrying signs that read "No kings in America" and "Dictator or democracy: That's the choice."

Drivers honked their horns as they passed the demonstration, spurring cheers from the crowd. Ponchos and umbrellas came out as a short rainstorm passed over.

Tom Scharff was among those who gathered early.

"The hatred that exists, that (Trump has) generated, has got to stop," he said, explaining why he chose to attend. "Democracy has got to come back in full."

Scharff cited the administration's crackdown on immigration, including the deployment of the military in Los Angeles, as issues he is concerned about.

"Now they're taking people off the streets," he said. "It's not America."

-Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal

No 'No Kings' protests planned in Washington, DC

Though other groups have plans to protest in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, there aren't any "No Kings" protests planned in the city, where Trump will hold a parade Saturday evening to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The anniversary also falls on Flag Day and Trump's 79th birthday.

Roughly 60 protesters were arrested in the district on Friday after a few pushed down a bike rack, crossed a police line, and ran towards the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Capitol Police said in a statement.

The "No Kings" protests are meant to oppose what demonstrators see as Trump's power grab. The number of planned events is nearly double that of the April 5 "Hands Off" protest that saw millions of Americans turn out in big and small cities nationwide. 

Protesters fear crackdown: But demonstrators stick to plans to rally in DC before June 14 Army parade

Minnesota protests canceled amid search for shooting suspect

Organizers of the "No Kings" demonstrations and local officials urged demonstrators to stay home from planned protests in Minnesota on Saturday after a lawmaker and her husband were fatally shot and another lawmaker and his wife were injured at their homes. Gov. Tim Walz called the incident a “politically motivated assassination.” 

"Governor Walz has recommended that we cancel No Kings events across the state of Minnesota because the individual who assassinated a Democratic lawmaker is still at large," organizers said in a statement on their website. "For the safety of all involved, we are cancelling all Minnesota events not already underway."

Authorities found papers with "No Kings" written on them in the back seat of the suspect's vehicle, Col. Christina Bogojevic with the Department of Public Safety said.

There was no evidence of a specific threat to the "No Kings" rallies; however, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said authorities were sharing the information about the papers found so the public remains informed.

Read more: Walz urges Minnesotans to avoid 'No Kings' Day rallies June 14 after shooting

‘All of you are immigrants’: Los Angeles 'No Kings' Rally kicks off

At City Hall in Los Angeles, sheriff’s deputies fanned out at the top of the steps as people began to gather in advance of one of several protests planned across the city. 

Reggae music, the sound of helicopters overheard and the smell of freshly cooked hot dogs being sold by vendors for $10 a piece greeted arrivals.

As the crowd quickly swelled to about 1,000 people, hundreds of others gathered around a speaker: Shannon Rivers on a bullhorn. Rivers is a member of the Akimel O’odam (River People) Nation and is an Indigenous Peoples human rights activist.

Other members of the Native American group played drums and some held signs that read, “No one is illegal on stolen land.” Los Angeles is the ancestral land of the Tongva People.

“Stop talking about immigrants,” Rivers said. “All of you are immigrants. Everyone one of you. We’ve accepted you into our territory — sometimes reluctantly, but we’ve done it. We are here today, we are standing in solidarity."

Many among those gathered near City Hall have brought signs with messages including: “The Only Minority Destroying America Are Billionaires," “L.A. Heat Melts I.C.E.” and “United We Stand Against Hate.”

And then there was the sign Victor Ceron carried to the barricade midway up the steps at City Hall and held it high so the sheriff’s deputies fanned out across the top could see it.

It read: “Brown Won’t Back Down.”

Ceron, who said he is a 39-year-old, first-generation Mexican American, said he wants the world to see the sign so people know, “We are a resilient people.”

He said it was his first protest, and he came alone. “But I’m thinking of my parents and my son. He’s the future,” added Ceron, who said he was born and raised in Los Angeles.

– Pamela Avila and Josh Peter

Protests ramp up across California

Protesters are showing up for the planned 9 a.m. Saturday protest at Redding City Hall in Shasta County in Northern California to say, "We don’t fall for the fear-mongering, we want ICE out of California, and we won’t let our elected officials be attacked," said Redding resident Brooke McGowen, who attended similar past protests.

Hundreds of people also gathered in the morning for the "No Kings" rally in Cathedral City in Southern California's Coachella Valley on Saturday. They lined the street near the Cathedral City Civic Center.

Protesters carried an array of signs that said things like “We Don’t Need A Nepo-Baby King,” “Get the Faux King Out of Our White House,” and “A Woman’s Place is in the Resistance." They were chanting “Trump Must Go!”

Coachella Valley residents will also march and cruise from Coachella to Rancho Mirage on Saturday.

– Ani Gasparyan and Jennifer Cortez, Palm Springs Desert Sun and Jessica Skropanic, Redding Record Searchlight

Thousands march in 'No Kings' protest in Oklahoma City

“No hate, no fear. Immigrants are welcome here,” marchers chanted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Cars driving by honked in support, drawing cheers from the marchers. Thunder clapped loudly as the rain became steadier.

James Neal, 50, of Enid, said he came to Oklahoma City to protest the “rise of authoritarianism in the country and defend the constitution.” A U.S. Navy veteran, he wore a shirt that said, “Not on my Watch.”

– Ray Rivera, The Oklahoman

'No Kings' float joins Columbus Pride march

A “No Kings” march took place June 13 in downtown Columbus, Ohio and Indivisible Central Ohio brought the same themes into its float at the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and March on Saturday.

Protestors with the group gathered around a white parade float styled after the White House. “No kings in the White House,” read a banner across it.

People carried signs stating, “No kings, no dictators, no billionaires, no bullies”; “We the people means everyone”; and other slogans.

Mia Lewis, organizer for Indivisible Central Ohio and a member of Common Cause, said her group was there to protest because the rights of LGBTQ+ people are under attack by the Trump administration, along with the rights of immigrants, women and refugees.

“We the people do not accept a president who is trying to overthrow our democracy,” Lewis said. “We do not accept that Donald Trump is trying to be a king. … So many things he is doing run counter to our democracy.”

– Bailey Gallion, Cole Behrens, Nathaniel Shuda, Eleanor Kennedy and Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch

Hundreds gather in Delaware for as 'No Kings' protest

More than a thousand people marched in Wilmington, Delaware, on the morning of June 14 as part of the "No Kings" day gathering.

Demonstrators began organizing before 9 a.m., when the first speakers addressed the crowd. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester was one of the initial speakers, followed by Gov. Matt Meyer. Meyer served as grand marshal as speakers wrapped up and the "parade" got underway around 9:20 a.m.

The governor stirred the crowd by quoting Simon Wiesenthal, an Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter and writer: 

"For evil to flourish, for evil to flourish, it only takes one thing for evil to flourish, for evil to flourish," Meyer quoted. "It only requires that good women and men be silenced for evil to flourish; it only requires that good women and men be silent."

–Isabel Hughes and Esteban Parra, Delaware News Journal

'No Kings' march toward Mar-a-Lago begins

At exactly 10 a.m., attendees, young and old, migrated from the shade of Phipps Park’s ficus trees to begin their march toward Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Palm Beach estate. Some chanted into megaphones and others seemed content to nod along.

Daniela Childers, a 31-year-old therapist from West Palm Beach, stood alone among the crowd of demonstrators gathered at the park ahead of the march. She said she’s a generally anxious person who had abstained from protests before, but decided she could no longer watch from the sidelines.  

“I’m here at my first protest to basically show dissent to the current administration that I disagree with completely,” she said. 

– Hannah Phillips and Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post

Where are 'No Kings' protests planned? See the map

The largest protest effort is expected in Philadelphia. Major protests are also scheduled in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Phoenix and Los Angeles, while sympathetic protests have cropped up in other countries.

Philadelphia's 'No Kings' protest set to be largest

The largest "No Kings" protest on June 14 is expected to take place in Philadelphia as a nod to the country's history and to avoid accusations that protesters are opposing the Army parade in the nation's capital, organizers have said.

"We made that choice to not feed into any narrative that Trump might want that we're counter-protesting him directly or give him the opportunity to crack down on protesters," Levin said.

Read more: 'No Kings' organizers say Philadelphia set to be largest June 14 protest. Why?

The Philadelphia protest begins at LOVE Park at the corner of Arch Street & North 15th Street at noon. At 12:30 p.m., the crowd plans to march down the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where several people will speak. It is expected to end at about 3 p.m.

The Association of the United States Army is also hosting its own celebration for the 250th anniversary of the Army in Philadelphia over three days that started Friday, for which the city closed parts of several roads and altered bus routes.

Sherri King woke up at 6 a.m. to head to the Philadelphia protest from her home in Elkton, Maryland. 

“I just think it’s important because I’m an American citizen and we have to live by the constitution, and Trump is not obeying the constitution from what I see,” King said while finishing her protest sign in LOVE Park. 

“We don’t need no kings in America. We have a democracy,” King said.

Some protests could see bad weather

Much of the central and eastern parts of the country are expected to see showers and some storms on Saturday, with the chance for severe thunderstorms affecting protests in parts of the northern High Plains states of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Forecasters said flash flooding is a concern in Virginia and North Carolina on Saturday.

Meanwhile, parts of the West are expecting a hot, dry heat with temperatures up to 110 in the Desert Southwest. Read more.

ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES (WITH PEANUT GALLERY)

TRUMP SAYS HE’S NO KING DESPITE PROTESTERS CONTENDING HE IS

By Mallory Wilson - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 12, 2025

President Trump brushed off the planned “No Kings” protests across the country this weekend against his policies.

“I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get stuff approved. … We’re not a king at all,” he said at a bill signing event Thursday in the East Room of the White House.

Rallies are planned in hundreds of cities on Saturday to protest Mr. Trump’s policies and to counter his big military parade set for the same day in Washington. It also happens to be his 79th birthday.

The parade will mark of the Army’s 250th anniversary.

The protests aim to call attention to what demonstrators call the president’s eroding of democracy.

The “No Kings” name was chosen by 50501, signifying 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.

“We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind,” the “No Kings” website says. “The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us.”

· CBS News draws backlash over story promoting protest ‘merch’ on social media and website

· Trump starts G7 trip by meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney

· Trump upends ‘mass deportation’ order, tells ICE to go easy on ‘heartland’

“On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings,” it says.

PEANUT GALLERY

olejim

Thus far the duly elected President of the USA has not been found in violation of his oath of office in any final decision by SCOTUS. SocialiCommiFasciMarxist wangers of the DNC - including 94% of DC To Boston MEDIA Circus - whine about every thang they can't prevent getting done in a democracy!!

stosh

Just think, if Trump were a king, he could make TDS a fatal disease. The world would be a better place.

Verso

..."(K)ing" is much too modest for his person. He feels like the Emperor, the conquistadore... One has the feeling, that USA do not exist anymore, is fallen prey of a glottonous power... After Iran, China, Russia, now it is about Greenland to be "conquered"... while homelessness, poverty is rampant in the US cities, over the land, and the chemtrails continue their daily spraying... etc. Alas! What about fluoride in the water? Is this over with the big announcements?

mngrant

these protesters are IDIOTS.

olejim

50501... kinda like the rose by any udder name remains SocialiCommiFasciMarxist?

Oprah's fave Maya Angelou " Listen when I tell you who I am the first time!"

Truthforever007

Delusional lemmings following the democrats lies these morons are mindless sheep protesting a false narrative

DougH

Trump is, in fact, the last medieval king, exactly as the Founders intended.

ATTACHMENT NINETEEN – FROM TRUTH SOCIAL

@realDonaldTrump Feb 19, 2025, 1:58 PM

CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!

ATTACHMENT TWENTY – FROM TALLAHASSEE.COM

FLORIDA OFFICIALS WARN ICE PROTESTERS: VIOLENCE COULD MEAN JAIL — OR DEATH

'We will be notifying your family where to collect your remains, because we will kill you, graveyard dead,' one Florida sheriff said.

By Ana Goñi-Lessan

Florida officials once again reminded the state's residents that Florida is not California and threatened arrest and even death for protestors who become violent in the Sunshine State.

At a press conference in Titusville, Attorney General James Uthmeier was joined by federal and state law enforcement leaders, who said they will ensure any "rioting" will be "nipped in the bud right away."

"If you hit one of us, you're going to the hospital and jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey added.

"If you throw a brick, a fire bomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains, because we will kill you, graveyard dead."

It's a severe message in response to protests in other parts of the country that have turned violent against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January and started acting on his campaign promise of mass deportations, ICE and related agencies have quickly escalated efforts to remove undocumented immigrants, prompting demonstrations in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, New York and other major cities.

Florida passed an 'anti-riot' bill in 2021 that says peaceful protesters can face criminal charges if their actions become violent. On June 9, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has "drawn (the) line very clearly" between protesting and rioting.

Across the country, "No Kings" protests are planned for Saturday, which coincides with with Flag Day, President Donald Trump's 79th birthday and the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary celebration and military parade taking place in Washington, D.C.

The "No Kings" name derives in part from a February 2025 Truth Social post in which Trump referred to himself as a king. (See above)

According to the No Kings website, as of June 10 over 75 protests (including multiple in the same city) are planned across Florida.

At the press conference, law enforcement officials remained steadfast in their support of federal anti-illegal immigration efforts and vowed to protect ICE officers who are "being put in harm's way just for doing their jobs."

Uthmeier said if ICE officers feel they are being intimidated or threatened while in Florida, they now will be able to notify the Florida Highway Patrol, which will provide "routine check ups and patrols."

FHP Col. Gary Howze said in the past several months the state has detained over 2,000 "UDAs," a term for undocumented alien.

"The only sanctuaries in Florida are to protect animals, not criminals," Howze said.

Larry Keefe, the executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, said the state will add riot response tactics to its "blueprint" for mass deportation so other states may follow suit.

"There's no reason other states shouldn't have the backs of the federal law enforcement officers and their families while they're in California or in any of the other states," said Keefe, the former top federal prosecutor for north Florida.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – FROM THE ROOT

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S MASSIVE BIRTHDAY MILITARY PARADE IN DC— AND WHY IT’S STIRRING UP CHAOS

In more than 1,600 cities, demonstrators are expected to organize for "No Kings Day" to rain on Trump's military parade.

by Phenix S Halley Published June 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has major plans to flex his guns (literally) as nation-wide protests against him continue to ricochet throughout the country. A military parade is set to take place this Saturday (June 14), which just so happens to be the president's 79th birthday. Now, the event is receiving bipartisan backlash.

To be fair, June 14 is also the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army (The U.S. Army traces its origins back to the Second Continental Congress, which established the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.) And what better way to celebrate than to bring thousands of soldiers, tanks, and guns to Washington, D.C. for the biggest military parade in decades? Well, certainly the president thinks it's a perfect idea. And he has a message for anyone with plans to overshadow the flashy event.

"We're gonna be celebrating big on Saturday," Trump began during a press conference in the Oval Office. He said the U.S. is the only country that doesn't celebrate its victory in World War II. Now, it's our time to shine.

"And if there's any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force," he continued. After his eerie warning, press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified Trump meant no ill intent, but as the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles show you, the administration using force isn't a far fetched concept.

Trump's timing couldn't be anymore crucial. The L.A. protests haven't let up, despite the administration sending over 2,000 National Guard and Marine troops to quell the ongoing demonstrations. In fact, it seems Americans everywhere have become even more riled up over Trump's deportation and anti-DEI agenda.

Since Trump returned to the White House, there have been thousands of protests against him and his administration nation-wide. With Saturday's parade expected to be a highly armed and secure event, protest organizers are already prepping to show up the president on his big day.

In more than 1,600 cities, anti-Trump demonstrators are expected to organize for "No Kings Day" to rain on Trump's military parade, according to KOBI 5 News. The Trump administration "defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," the 50501 Movement, who started the protest effort, said on their website. "They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies."

Shockingly, the birthday parade is receiving mixed reviews from republicans who are worried about the message an event like this could send. Ky. Sen. Rand Paul said he's "never been a big fan of goose stepping soldiers and big tanks and missiles rolling down the street." He continued, "We were always different than the images you saw of the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that."

The ceremony will cost up to $45 million, according to NPR, but this wouldn't be Trump's first attempt at organizing one. Back in 2018, he tried to host one for Veteran's Day, but after backlash from local government, it was cancelled.

The June 14th parade, like the 2018 one, is already receiving harsh criticism. "That is wrong," Colo. Rep. Jason Crow said referring to Trump using 6,000 troops and military machines for the showy parade. Crow continued in an interview with "Call to Activism" saying, "It takes soldiers away from their families-- away from their mission. It wastes taxpayer dollars."

Despite a thunderstorm forecast, the parade is expected to kick off on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., according to ABC News.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – FROM GUK

AMERICANS DISAGREE ON MUCH – BUT THIS WEEK, WE HAVE FOUND COMMON GROUND

Trump’s crackdown in LA and his planned military parade have united people in opposition. As we resist, we gain courage

By Robert Reich Sat 14 Jun 2025 07.00 EDT

We are relearning the meaning of “solidarity”. This week, across the US, people have been coming together.

We may disagree on immigration policy, but we don’t want a president deploying federal troops in our cities when governors and mayors say they’re not needed.

We may disagree on how laws should be enforced, but we don’t want federal agents to arbitrarily abduct people off our streets or at places of business or in courthouses and detain them without any process to determine if such detention is justified.

Or target hardworking members of our community. Or arrest judges. Or ship people off to brutal prisons in foreign lands.

We may disagree on questions of freedom of speech, but we don’t think people should be penalized for peacefully expressing their views.

Why are the media ignoring growing resistance to Trump?

We may disagree on the federal budget, but we don’t believe a president should spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on a giant military parade designed in part to celebrate himself.

As we resist Donald Trump’s tyranny, America gains in solidarity. As we gain solidarity, we feel more courageous. As we feel courageous and stand up to the president, we weaken him and his regime. As we weaken Trump and his regime, we have less to fear.

In downtown Kansas City, Missouri, this week, protesters holding signs reading “solidarity” marched peacefully. “I felt it was my right and my duty to come here – as what I had to go through to come here, and yell, and say I went through the system,” one of them told the local channel KSHB.

In Denver, a crowd gathered outside the Colorado state capitol peacefully marched in solidarity with Los Angeles protesters, carrying flags and signs with slogans such as “Abolish ICE,” “No human is illegal” and “Keep the immigrants. Deport the fascists!”

In downtown Tucson, people gathered at the Garcés Footbridge to show their solidarity. Reminders of the protest were written in chalk on sidewalks: “No one is illegal on stolen land,” “Love over Hate” and “Free Our Families.”

In Boston, they gathered outside of the Massachusetts state house to express solidarity, citing two local students who they said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) abducted and detained for no reason, Rümeysa Öztürk and Marcelo Gomes da Silva.

In Sioux City, Iowa, they marched along Singing Hills Boulevard, outside the Ice office, to peacefully protest. One of them, Zayden Reffitt, said: “We’re showing people that we’re not going to be silent and we’re not just going to let all this go through without us saying something about it.”

In Chicago, thousands marched through the Loop, creating a standstill on DuSable Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park. As one explained: “I’m a first-generation citizen – my parents were born in Mexico. It’s something I’m super passionate about. My family is safe, but there are many who aren’t. This is impacting our community, and we need to stand up for those who can’t speak up for themselves.”

In Des Moines, they rallied peacefully at Cowles Commons in solidarity with others. “We’re here to stand up for members of our community. For immigrants. For migrants. For refugees. For people with disabilities. For people on Medicaid. For seniors. For all the working class, because we are all under attack right now,” said one. “And Trump is trying to scapegoat immigrants and make them the enemy, calling them criminals.”

In Austin, Texas, they gathered in front of the Texas capitol, holding flags and signs while chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets.” Authorities used pepper spray and teargas against the protesters and arrested more than a dozen of them, the governor, Greg Abbott, said.

In San Antonio, hundreds gathered outside city hall, chanting, “People united will never be divided!” and holding signs that read, “No human is illegal” and “I’m speaking for those who can’t.”

It was much the same in Sacramento; Raleigh, North Carolina; St Louis and in hundreds of other cities.

Troops are now patrolling Los Angeles. This is a disaster waiting to happen

All across the US, people who have never before participated in a demonstration are feeling compelled to show their solidarity – with immigrants who are being targeted by Trump, with people who are determined to preserve due process and the rule of law, with Americans who don’t want to live in a dictatorship.

Peaceful protests don’t get covered by the national media. Most of the people who come together in places such as Des Moines and Kansas City to express their outrage at what Trump is doing aren’t heard or seen by the rest of us.

Yet such solidarity is the foundation of the common good. And although the number of people expressing it is still relatively small, it is growing across the land.

This is the silver lining on the dark Trumpian cloud.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – FROM the NEW YORK TIMES

SHOWCASE OF FORCE

By Marco Hernandez

Authoritarian regimes use them to intimidate. Democracies use them to commemorate. Military parades are both grand spectacles and potent messages. They are rare in the United States.

But tomorrow, Washington will host one of its own. The occasion, at least officially, is the 250th anniversary of the United States Army. It also just so happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday.

The motives of countries that stage such parades may vary, but the events all tend to a common visual vocabulary. Here is what to look for.

Iconic settings

Military parades often take place against the backdrop of a country’s most recognizable landmarks, such as Tiananmen Square or the Arc de Triomphe. It signals that military power is intertwined with the fabric of the nation. Tomorrow’s event begins after soldiers march from the Pentagon. They head to the National Mall, passing Trump’s viewing stand on Constitution Avenue, according to Army officials.

Strategic seating charts

Military parades offer a perfect photo op for leaders who want to show the world who their allies are. For Russia’s Victory Day parade, Vladimir Putin hosts the heads of nations who stuck with him after his invasion of Ukraine.

French presidents frequently invite leaders of nations they wish to court. At different Bastille Day parades, they’ve sat next to Narendra Modi of India, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Trump. In fact, that seems to be where Trump got the idea for his own parade.

Displays of might

These events are displays of power. For Kim Jong-un of North Korea, they’re a chance to showcase aspects of a closed-off country and to advertise its most advanced weapons. Pyongyang’s parade often features nuclear weapons. Some experts believe these are actually props, not functional equipment.

But in the world of propaganda, that doesn’t really matter. “You can have obsolete tanks, undertrained soldiers and failing logistics, but the image is what matters. In fear societies, perception is power,” said John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute.

China makes an impression through sheer volume. In 2019, its National Day parade stretched for miles and featured more than 500 pieces of military equipment, including tanks, intercontinental missiles and hypersonic drones. It is an unmistakable message for Taiwan, upon which Beijing has designs, and the United States, experts say.

Intimidating choreography

Formations of soldiers marching in perfect sync are a hallmark of every military parade. The message is not subtle: These are disciplined troops, well trained and ready to defend their homeland. For citizens at home, it stirs up pride; for potential adversaries abroad, it may give pause.

Some countries incorporate acrobatic performances by soldiers or showy aircraft flyovers. Tomorrow’s event will feature 50 helicopters and parachutists who deliver a flag to Trump.

Click here to see more details and photos of military parades around the world.

For more: Opponents of Trump have organized “No Kings” protests nationwide to coincide with his parade in Washington tomorrow. Trump has bristled: “I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” he said.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR – FROM THE DAILY BEAST (SHORT TAKES)

MOST AMERICANS THINK TRUMP’S PARADE IS A HUGE WASTE OF MONEY

The $45 million military bash falls on June 14, Trump’s 79th birthday.

By Liam Archacki  Published Jun. 12 2025 12:11PM EDT 

Six in 10 Americans don’t think that a $45 million military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday is a good use of taxpayer money, according to an Associated Press poll.

The extravaganza, which will feature as many as 25 tanks rolling through the streets of Washington, D.C., is slated for June 14—the day Trump turns 79. The parade is billed as a 250th-anniversary celebration of the U.S. Army’s founding.

Just 40 percent of Americans polled by the AP approved of the lavish celebration, while 29 percent disapproved and the rest were neutral. Along political lines, only 20 percent of Democrats approved, in contrast with 67 percent of Republicans.

When it came to the price tag, 80 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Independents did not think it was worthwhile spending. Republicans were of a different mind—nearly two thirds signed off on the hefty bill.

The parade will feature approximately 8,000 soldiers marching alongside the tanks. Its cost includes a new paint job for the tanks and repairing D.C. roads not equipped to bear their weight.

Trump’s Bonkers Justification for His $45M Military Party

By Farrah Tomazin

On Tuesday, Trump offered a bizarre justification for the parade: without the military, Americans would have lost WWII and would now be speaking German or Japanese.

“If it weren’t for us, you would be speaking German right now, ok?” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “You might be speaking Japanese, too. You might be speaking a combination of both.”

“It’s gonna be an amazing day,” Trump added. “We’ll have tanks, we’ll have planes, we’ll have all sorts of things. I think it’s gonna be great.”

Not Even GOPers Want to Go to Trump’s Goose-Stepping Parade

By Josephine Harvey

Despite the president’s enthusiasm, not many of his Republican colleagues are planning to attend. Out of 50 surveyed by Politico, just seven said they would go—including, of course, Trump diehard Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The army anticipates that 200,000 people will attend.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – FROM FOX NEWS

MORE AMERICANS SUPPORT THAN OPPOSE TRUMP’S ARMY CELEBRATION PARADE: POLL

Still, six in 10 Americans are concerned about the cost of the parade

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News Published June 14, 2025 8:00am EDT

As President Donald Trump hosts events on Saturday to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, a new national poll indicates more Americans are likely to approve than disapprove of the president's decision to hold a military parade.

But six in 10 Americans are concerned about the cost of the parade, saying it's "not a good use" of government money, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.

Trump, who is marking his 79th birthday on Saturday, is scheduled to give a speech during the parade, which will take place Saturday evening along the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Defense officials say roughly 6,600 soldiers will march in the parade, with some 50 military aircraft and 150 vehicles, including tanks, rocket launchers, and missiles. The Army says it's spending $25-$45 million to pay for the parade, which includes fixing D.C. streets damaged by the tanks.

TRUMP WARNS ANY PROTESTERS AT HIS MILITARY PARADE WILL BE 'MET WITH VERY BIG FORCE'

Trump has defended the cost of the parade, saying last month in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that it would be "peanuts compared to the value of doing it."

"We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it," the president said.

But some in Congress are criticizing the parade, saying the money could be better spent.

"If it was really about celebrating military families, we could put $30 million toward helping them offset the cost of their child care, food assistance and tuition," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both of her legs in combat while piloting an Army Black Hawk helicopter during the Iraq War, said in a social media post.

"But it isn't. Trump is throwing himself a $30 million birthday parade just to stroke his own ego," Duckworth argued.

According to the poll, 40% of adults nationwide approved of the military parade, with 29% disapproving, and three in 10 neither approving nor disapproving.

There was an expected partisan divide, with two-thirds of Republicans approving of the president's move to hold the parade, and half of Democrats disapproving.

But in a separate question, 60% of those surveyed said holding the parade was not a good use of government funds, with 38% disagreeing.

Nearly two-thirds of Republicans said holding the parade was a good use of government funds, while eight in 10 Democrats disagreed.

The White House, in a statement, said that the parade "will be a unifying celebration for not only the thousands in attendance, but Americans across the country who can participate in honoring our active-duty servicemembers, Veterans, and fallen heroes."

Pro-democracy, progressive, and labor activists are planning protests in all 50 states on Saturday that will coincide with Trump's military parade. Many are part of a series of "No Kings" protests across the country, with more than 1,500 rallies scheduled for this weekend. 

But organizers decided against holding a major protest in the nation's capital and instead will hold their main event in Philadelphia.

The poll, which was conducted June 5-9, also indicates that 39% of those questioned approve of the job Trump's doing in the White House, with six in ten giving the president a thumbs down.

The survey had an overall margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX – FROM USA TODAY

MOST AMERICANS THINK TRUMP'S MILITARY PARADE IS 'NOT A GOOD USE' OF MONEY, POLL SHOWS

Six in 10 American adults said the parade is not a good use of government funds, according to AP-NORC's poll.

Melina Khan

With hours to go until the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary parade hits the streets of Washington, D.C., a new poll reveals Americans' opinions about the event.

In the poll released June 12 from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a majority of the American adults surveyed said the parade is not a good use of government money.

AP-NORC surveyed 1,158 American adults from June 5-8 for the poll, which had a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points.

The Army Birthday Festival is expected to cost about $40 million, a Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly previously told USA TODAY.

The parade, which will coincide with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday on June 14, will feature military demonstrations, equipment displays and live music throughout the day, according to organizers. More than 7,000 troops, two dozen tanks and armored vehicles each and 50 helicopters are set to be part of the event.

Here's a look at the results from AP-NORC's poll.

More adults approve than disapprove of Trump's military parade

Overall, 40% of adults surveyed said they approve of Trump's decision to hold a military parade. About 29% of adults said they disapprove, while 31% chose neither approve or disapprove.

When broken down by party affiliation, just 20% of Democrats said they approve of the parade. Half of Democratic respondents said they disapprove and 29% said neither.

For Republicans, 67% said they approve, while just 11% said they disapprove. About 21% said neither.

Military parade time What time is Trump’s DC military parade? See full festival schedule

6 in 10 Americans think military parade is 'not a good use' of money

Regarding the parade's hefty price tag, overall, 60% of adults said the parade is not a good use of government funds. About 38% said it is a good use of government funds.

80% of Democrats said it is not a good use of funds, while 19% said the opposite.

Of the Republicans in the survey, 65% said it is a good use of funds and 35% disagreed.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com. 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN – FROM GUK

MILLIONS ACROSS US TURN OUT FOR ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS AGAINST DONALD TRUMP

Protesters demonstrate at about 2,000 sites nationwide on day US president holds military parade in Washington

Rachel Leingang in Minneapolis, Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles and Melissa Hellmann in Philadelphia Sat 14 Jun 2025 21.02 EDT

As tanks and soldiers paraded through the streets of Washington on Saturday, several million people around the country turned out to protest against the excesses of Donald Trump’s administration.

The protests, dubbed “No Kings”, took place at about 2,100 sites nationwide, from big cities to small towns. A coalition of more than 100 groups joined together to plan the protests, which are committed to a principle of nonviolence.

This week, the president has deployed national guard and US marine troops to Los Angeles to crack down on protesters who have demonstrated against his ramped-up deportations, defying state and local authorities in a show of military force that hasn’t been seen in the US since the civil rights era. Interest in the Saturday protests rose as a result, organizers said, including at a site near Trump’s south Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

No Kings organizers estimated the day’s events drew millions of people, with some hundreds still under way in all 50 states and to some cities abroad. These included more than 200,000 in New York and over 100,000 in Philadelphia, plus some small towns with sizable crowds for their populations, including the town of Pentwater, Michigan, which saw 400 people join the protest in their 800-person town, the No Kings coalition said.

The protests were largely peaceful, though some – in Los Angeles and Portland – were later deemed unlawful assembly by law enforcement and met with teargas.

The tenor of the day was also marked by political violence. There were two early morning shootings of two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, one of whom was killed along with her husband, in what local officials called a politically motivated attack. The state’s police and governor cautioned people to not attend demonstrations across the state “out of an abundance of caution”.

Many thousands of people still turned up at the main protest in Minnesota, at the state capitol, to make it clear that political violence wouldn’t silence them. Crowds stretched for blocks as people carried signs against Trump, and some that mentioned the names of the lawmakers who were shot. On the main stage, organizers mentioned the tragedy, saying how it strengthened their resolve and underscored the importance of gathering together.

Perry McGowan carried a sign with the names of the two lawmakers – Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman – and a red heart.

“We are all affected by not just by political violence, but all violence in our lives,” he said. “And there’s way too much of it – way too much gun violence, way too much television hate, way too much inhumanity to your neighbors, and we need to push back on that and to contribute civility to our common good.”

(Not even the most rabid right-wing extremists saw Boelter as a hero except for one politician – Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who said assassination was what happened “… when Marxists don’t get their way.”

In Texas, officials said they had “identified a credible threat toward state lawmakers planning to attend” a “No Kings” demonstration at the state capitol, the Associated Press reported.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, thousands marched from Love Park in the early afternoon, holding umbrellas and signs.

Victor, a 56-year-old chef originally from Argentina, held a hand-painted sign that depicted Trump as a pig, with “Oink” painted atop his image in large letters. “Other people have the right to work hard and make a life for themselves when they come from a country where they can’t do that or are facing political oppression or are desperate,” he said. “This is supposed to be the land of opportunity and a land built on immigrants.”

He was disappointed by the military parade happening 123 miles (200km) away in Washington DC. “It’s a perverse show of power unnecessarily,” he said.

In some Republican-led states, governors had pre-emptively signaled that law enforcement would quell any protests that they deemed violent.

Greg Abbott, the Republican Texas governor, deployed his state’s national guard to manage protests ahead of “No Kings” and amid ongoing demonstrations against Trump’s immigration agenda. Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said that people could legally run over protesters with their cars if they were surrounded. “You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets. You have a right to defend yourself in Florida,” he said.

Although most protests went without incident, some saw threats and safety issues.

The “No Kings” protests at Georgia’s capitol unfolded without police confronting demonstrators, but police dispersed a protest with smoke and teargas in a suburban neighborhood that is home to a high concentration of Hispanic residents.

And in San Francisco, NBC News reported that a driver hit at least four demonstrators who reportedly suffered “non life-threatening injuries”, while in Virginia a man drove an SUV through a crowd and injured one protester.

Early in the day demonstrations gathered strength outside Los Angeles city hall, awash with American flags. After a week of Trump administration officials and their allies seizing on the Mexican flags waved by LA street protesters and saying they were symptoms of a foreign invasion, many brought US flags from home, either waving them or wrapping them around their shoulders. Others took them from volunteers handing them out at sites across the rally.

Later in the day in Los Angeles, a crowd formed outside a federal building and started chanting, “Leave LA!” at the national guard members stationed outside and some reportedly threw objects at the building.

At 4pm the LAPD also declared “unlawful assembly” for protesters who were outside the approved protest area, issued a dispersal order and began firing teargas and foam rubber bullets shortly after. Most of the crowd dispersed quickly. Unlike the morning protests, there were more masked protesters in the evening.

In Portland, Oregon, federal agents reportedly also used teargas against demonstrators outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility after they said the protesters attempted to breach the door.

The coalition did not hold a protest in Washington DC – an intentional choice to draw contrast with the military parade and to not give the president an excuse to crack down on peaceful protest. But a DC-based organization hosted a “DC Joy Day” in the district that will “celebrate DC’s people, culture, and our connections to one another”.

A separate group of about 300, organized by Refuse Fascism, marched to the White House to protest. Army veteran Chris Yeazel was among the protesters and said he came out in reaction to Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles, and his speech to army soldiers at Fort Bragg, which has been criticized for its partisan tone.

“This is the nation’s capital,” Yeazel said. “This is exactly where we need to protest.”

Trump initially said people who protested the parade would be met with “very big force”, though the White House then attempted to clarify he was fine with peaceful protest. Asked about the “No Kings” protests during a White House event on Thursday, Trump said: “I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get things approved.”

Since the start of his second term, opposition to Trump has grown, manifesting in protests and demonstrations including against Elon Musk at his car company, against deportations, around his retribution agenda and government cuts.

Harvard University’s Crowd Counting Consortium, which tracks political crowds, found that there had been three times as many protests by the end of March 2025 compared to 2017, during Trump’s first term, and that was before major protests in April and May. The biggest day of protest so far came on 5 April, with “Hands Off”, which the consortium estimated drew as many as 1.5 million people, a lower figure than organizers cited.

“Overall, 2017’s numbers pale in comparison to the scale and scope of mobilization in 2025 – a fact often unnoticed in the public discourse about the response to Trump’s actions,” a new analysis from the consortium said.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – FROM THE CONVERSATION

TRUMP HAS LONG SPECULATED ABOUT USING FORCE AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLE. NOW HE HAS THE PRETEXT TO DO SO

By Emma Shortis Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University

Published: June 9, 2025 4:02am EDT Updated: June 9, 2025 10:40pm

“You just [expletive] shot the reporter!”

Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer in the background appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet.

Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same “non-lethal” ammunition.

The situation in Los Angeles is extremely volatile. After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as “a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States”. He then deployed the National Guard.

‘Can’t you just shoot them?’

As much of the coverage has noted, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed to quell protests in the US.

In 1970, members of the National Guard shot and killed four students protesting the war in Vietnam at Kent State University. In 1992, the National Guard was deployed during protests in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers (three of whom were white) in the severe beating of a Black man, Rodney King.

Trump has long speculated about violently deploying the National Guard and even the military against his own people.

During his first administration, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that Trump asked him, “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?”

Trump has also long sought to other those opposed to his radical agenda to reshape the United States and its role in the world. He’s classified them as “un-American” and, therefore, deserving of contempt and, when he deems it necessary, violent oppression.

During last year’s election campaign, he promised to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country”. Even the Washington Post characterised this description of Trump’s “political enemies” as “echoing Hitler, Mussolini”.

In addition, Trump has long peddled baseless conspiracies about “sanctuary cities”, such as Los Angeles. He has characterised them as lawless havens for his political enemies and places that have been “invaded” by immigrants. As anyone who has ever visited these places knows, that is not true.

It is no surprise that in the same places Trump characterises as “disgracing our country”, there has been staunch opposition to his agenda and ideology.

That opposition has coalesced in recent weeks around the activities of ICE agents, in particular. These agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone.

As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, “the cruelty is the point”.

The Trump administration’s mass deportation program is deliberately cruel and provocative. It was always only a matter of time before protests broke out.

In a democracy, nonviolent protest by hundreds or perhaps a few thousand people in a city of ten million is not a crisis. But it has always suited Trump and the movement that supports him to manufacture crises.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the mass deportations program and a man described by a former adviser as “Waffen SS”, called the protests “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States”. Trump himself also described protesters as “violent, insurrectionist mobs”.

Nowhere does the presidential memo deploying the National Guard name the specific location of the protests. This, and the extreme language coming out of the administration, suggests it is laying the groundwork for further escalation.

The administration could be leaving space to deploy the National Guard in other places and invoke the Insurrection Act.

Incidents involving the deployment of the National Guard are rare, though politically cataclysmic. It is rarer still for the National Guard to be deployed against the wishes of a democratically elected leader of a state, as Trump has done in California.

A broader assault on democracy

This deployment comes at a time of crisis for US democracy more broadly. Trump’s longstanding attacks against independent media – what he describes as “fake news” – are escalating. There is a reason that during the current protests, a law enforcement officer appeared so comfortable targeting a journalist, on camera.

The Trump administration is also actively targeting independent institutions such as Harvard and Columbia universities. It is also targeting and undermining judges and reducing the power of independent courts to enforce the rule of law.

Under Trump, the federal government and its state-based allies are targeting and undermining the rights of minority groups – policing the bodies of trans people, targeting reproductive rights, and beginning the process of undoing the Civil Rights Act.

Trump is, for the moment, unconstrained. Asked overnight what the bar is for deploying the Marines against protesters, Trump responded: “the bar is what I think it is”.

As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie recently observed:

We should treat Trump and his openly authoritarian administration as a failure, not just of our party system or our legal system, but of our Constitution and its ability to meaningfully constrain a destructive and system-threatening force in our political life.

While the situation in Los Angeles is unpredictable, it must be understood in the broader context of the active, violent threat the Trump administration poses to the US. As we watch, American democracy teeters on the brink.

Emma Shortis is Director of International and Security Affairs at The Australia Institute, an independent think tank

ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE – FROM USA TODAY

'INNOCENT BYSTANDER' FATALLY SHOT AT 'NO KINGS' PROTEST IN SALT LAKE CITY, POLICE SAY

Thao Nguyen

An "innocent bystander" was killed after being caught in the crossfire between a person who pulled out a rifle at demonstrators and members of a peacekeeping team for the "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City on June 14, authorities said.

The shooting occurred at around 7:56 p.m. local time while a large crowd of demonstrators marched through downtown Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake City Police Department said in an update on June 15. Officers who were facilitating traffic during the protest, which drew about 10,000 people, reported hearing gunfire.

The gunshots caused hundreds of people to flee for safety, with some hiding behind barriers and running into nearby parking garages and businesses, according to the Salt City Police Department.

Officers immediately responded to the scene, secured the area, and searched for any active threats, police said. Officers discovered a man who sustained a gunshot wound and provided emergency care.

The man, who was identified on June 15 as Utah resident Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, later died at the hospital. Police said the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the official cause and manner of death.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Ah Loo was participating in the "No Kings" demonstration and is believed to be an "innocent bystander who was not the intended target of the gunfire," according to police.

Police accused Arturo Gamboa, 24, of brandishing a rifle at demonstrators and running away from two peacekeepers, who ordered him to drop the weapon. Police said Gamboa and Ah Loo were both struck by gunfire after one of the peacekeepers fired three rounds.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the 39-year-old man who was killed, and with the many community members who were impacted by this traumatic incident," Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said in a statement. "When this shooting happened, the response of our officers and detectives was fast, brave, and highly coordinated. It speaks to the caliber of this great department and our law enforcement partners."

The incident remains under investigation, police said, adding that they are also looking into the actions of the peacekeepers.

'Atrocious': Lawyers, family and friends of detainees describe ICE detention

Police: Suspect taken into custody on murder charge

After officers reported hearing gunfire, they were notified at about 8 p.m. of another man with a gunshot wound in the area. Police said they found the man, who was dressed in all black clothing and wearing a mask, crouching among a group of people.

As officers approached the scene, police said witnesses pointed out a nearby firearm, which was described as an AR-15-style rifle. Officers also discovered a gas mask, additional black clothing, and a backpack in the area.

The man was later identified as Gamboa and was transported to a local hospital, according to police. Investigators later took Gamboa into custody, and he was booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on a murder charge.

Officers also detained two men who were wearing neon green vests and carrying handguns, police said. The men were identified as members of the peacekeeping team for the "No Kings" demonstration.

The two peacekeepers told investigators that they saw Gamboa leave the crowd of demonstrators and move into a secluded area behind a wall, which they found suspicious, according to police. One of the peacekeepers told investigators that he saw Gamboa pull out an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack.

The peacekeepers then drew their firearms and ordered Gamboa to drop the rifle, police said. Witnesses reported to authorities that they saw Gamboa lift the rifle and run toward the crowd while holding the weapon in a firing position.

One of the peacekeepers fired three rounds, according to police. One round struck Gamboa, and another round hit Ah Loo.

"Detectives have not been able to determine, at this time, why Gamboa pulled out his rifle and began to manipulate it or why he ran from the peacekeepers when they confronted him," police said. "Detectives have developed probable cause that Gamboa acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member."

Shooting occurs during widespread 'No Kings' protests

"No Kings" demonstrations across the United States drew large crowds on June 14. The protests, which were mostly calm and peaceful, were held in opposition to President Donald Trump's policies and coincided with the controversial parade for the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C.

A demonstration in Northern Virginia, about 70 miles from Washington, D.C., was met with violence after a man intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person, police said.

Police in Los Angeles hit protesters with batons, fired tear gas, and ordered a large crowd in downtown to disperse; authorities said they were responding to people throwing "rocks, bricks, bottles," and "fireworks" at officials.

Meanwhile, authorities said a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were killed and another lawmaker and his wife were injured at their homes by a man impersonating law enforcement in what Gov. Tim Walz called a "politically motivated assassination."

In a statement, the "No Kings" group said it was adhering to guidance from the Minnesota State Patrol and Walz, who urged people not to attend any rallies on June 14.

Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Sarah D. Wire, Jeanine Santucci, and Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY

The Minnesota murders having propelled the public off their couches and Father’s Day festivities; tabloid talkers and sober scryers alike blaming the atrocities on their favorite partisan demons

ATTACHMENT THIRTY – FROM ROLLING STONE

TRUMP’S MILITARY BIRTHDAY PARADE WAS A GROSS FAILURE

The president’s military parade, which reportedly cost up to $45 million, was short on attendees, long on political speeches

By Nikki McCann Ramirez, Naomi LaChance, Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez, Stephen Rodrick June 14, 2025

WASHINGTON — On Saturday, President Donald Trump held a hideously expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., on his birthday. Trump and his top officials stood on a stage at the National Mall behind two tanks, before two large digital American flags. Military bands and troops, some on horses, some in vehicles, some in tanks, others in Howitzers, marched in the streets. So did a few robot dogs. An army parachute team jumped down. Helicopters flew over. Drones flew by. There were many, many tanks.

The spectacle was billed as honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday — and planners put in admirable effort to sell this fiction, with processions designed to honor key times in American military history. In reality, the event was just one part of the Trump administration’s vast, billion-dollar government effort to make the leader feel good about himself.

The weekend’s pageantry, which some administration officials referred to as “Donald Trump’s birthday parade” behind closed doors, fulfilled the president’s longtime desire for a grand military parade. Starting at the Pentagon in Virginia, the troops in the parade — who honored the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror — had to walk for about two-and-a-half miles.

Trump sat next to his wife Melania and the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. At points, Trump stood alone in front onstage, such as when he saluted troops marching as the 1st Cavalry Division. At another point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pictured yawning on C-SPAN. The military officials shown on C-SPAN spoke with reverence about the War on Terror.

Late in the event, Trump stood at a podium onstage and swore in 250 new or reenlisting troops. “Welcome to the United States Army and have a great life,” Trump said after they recited the Oath of Enlistment. “Thank you very much. Have a great life.”

After two hours, the event reached its logical conclusion: political speeches. J.D. Vance briefly went first. “June 14 is of course the birthday of the Army,” Vance said. “It is, of course, the birthday of the president of the United States. And Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” He delivered the laugh line of the night. “It’s also my wedding anniversary,” he said before immediately leaving the stage.

Finally, Trump spoke. He praised the army — and armies of years past. “Our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never ever quit. They fight, fight, fight and they win, win, win,” Trump said, in what seemed like an obvious reference to his own declaration of “Fight, Fight, Fight,” after a failed assassination attempt grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign event last year.

“We’re the hottest country in the world right now,” Trump said. “Our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before.” He said America is “blessed beyond words by this valued legion of army warriors.”

He continued, “No matter the obstacles, our warriors will charge into battle. They will plunge into the crucible of fire, and they will seize the crown of victory, because the United States of America will always have the grace of Almighty God and the iron will of the United States Army. Congratulations to everybody. We love our country. We’ve never done better. Thank you. God bless you. God bless the army and God bless America.”

Trump stood for a moment beside his wife, Melania, before Trump campaign regular Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the U.S.A.” (Trump and Greenwood sell a bible together.) “Happy birthday Mr. President,” Greenwood said at one point.

Even before the speech component, the C-SPAN feed gave off a vibe that alternated between military recruitment video and softcore Trump propaganda. Video played several times of Trump giving speeches. Occasionally, a small banner popped up that said: “Video courtesy of America 250.” The nonprofit America 250, which is helping organize the ongoing publicly-funded campaign celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial, has been taken over by Trump allies and one of his campaign operatives.

Corporate America did its part. “Special thanks to our sponsor Lockheed Martin,” the MC said around 6:30 p.m., shouting out America’s biggest defense contractor. The MC later thanked “our special sponsor Coinbase,” the cryptocurrency exchange. President Trump sure loves crypto — he reported in his financial disclosure Friday that he made $57 million in the final months of 2024 after he and his family launched their own crypto exchange, World Liberty Financial. (That was before he launched his own $TRUMP meme coin.)

Around 7 p.m., the big screens onstage that displayed the American flags turned to logos for UFC, the mixed martial arts business. Later, the MC thanked “special sponsor Palantir,” a contractor hired to help Trump compile data on Americans across federal agencies.

Military handed out drinks from sponsor Phorm Energy — a new beverage by Anheuser-Busch and UFC CEO Dana White, in the flavor Screamin’ Freedom.

Rock music was the soundtrack of the parade, including AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” during the War on Terror section. There were instrumentals from the Heart song “Barracuda” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

The military parade was overseen by the American commander-in-chief as he conducts a militarized crackdown on immigrants in Los Angeles, California, driving protests. He sent in National Guard troops and Marines not because their presence is necessary to keep the peace, but as a show of force — and as a test run for operations in other states and cities, should the president feel angry enough to launch them, likely illegally.

At 2,000 locations across the country, protesters held a “No Kings” Day to voice their anger toward the president. About 20,000 people gathered in downtown Los Angeles, undeterred by law enforcement’s use of non-lethal weapons on earlier protests and the president’s escalation by sending in troops.

Law enforcement largely left protesters alone for much of the day, but they deployed tear gas in the Atlanta area and arrested eight people, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

For an event that shut down much of central Washington D.C., closed key roads, and reportedly cost up to $45 million, the promise of a display of America’s military might — that just coincidentally happened to fall on Trump’s birthday — didn’t exactly draw out legions of his fans. Instead, the crowd of supporters, servicemembers, curious locals, and military-adjacent spectators who braved the oppressive heat and humidity of a post-thunderstorm D.C. managed to just fill out their allotted side of the street over several blocks in front of the White House, with plenty of room to spare.

In front of the central stage, a crowd befitting a midsize concert gathered in view of Jumbotrons. The lawns surrounding the Washington monument — which have hosted countless inaugurations, protests, concerts, and gatherings — were largely unused overflow space.

When the TV broadcast showed the crowd risers along the parade route, they were sparsely filled. The National Park Service issued permits for 250,000 people for the National Mall festival and the military parade. An aerial parade of historic military aircraft flew above the National Mall, traversing a course from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Memorial that — despite clear anticipation of crowds by event organizers — was more empty field and food truck line than crowd.

Though rock music blared on TV, the parade itself was eerily quiet. One video posted on X shows tanks squeaking past nearly silent crowds, sounding like a grocery cart in need of grease.

In the weeks leading up to his birthday and the parade, Trump told close associates that protesters were going to try to overshadow the military parade, including in media coverage, in D.C. and elsewhere, and that he was determined not to let that happen, a source with knowledge of the matter and another person briefed on it tell Rolling Stone.

The made-for-TV military parade looked expensive — but not necessarily impressive. Meanwhile, millions of people reportedly participated in “No Kings” parades Saturday across the country.

As the D.C. military parade took place, hundreds of protesters stood outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles. People had been dancing around, before hundreds of cops circled the four-block square without warning or announcement, leading to a tense stand-off, according to a Rolling Stone reporter on the ground. Flash bangs went off, and police used tear gas and smoke grenades to clear protesters.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY “A” – FROM NEWSWEEK

FROM A ROLLING STONE: MICK JAGGER APPEARS TO MOCK DONALD TRUMP DURING CONCERT

Published Jun 10, 2024 at 12:53 PM

Singer Mick Jagger appeared to mock former President Donald Trump during a concert on Friday.

Trump and President Joe Biden became the presumptive 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees respectively in March as both continue to campaign ahead of November's election. Their first debate is set for June 27, with a second one in September.

On Friday during his concert at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Jagger, the Rolling Stones frontman, spoke to the crowd about the 2024 election as he seemingly made a reference to the 11,780 votes Trump had asked Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him find following the 2020 election.

During a call on January 2, 2021, the former president asked Raffensperger to help him "find 11,780 votes" and overturn the state's 2020 election results in his favor, the call helped spark the opening of a criminal investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while Jagger was introducing the fan's choice song, "Sweet Virginia," he admitted the band had wanted to play "Wild Horses" but that they needed 11,00 more votes, adding that a "more important vote" is coming in November.

"We wanted to play 'Wild Horses,'" Jagger reportedly told the crowd. "All we needed was 11,000 more votes. There's a more important vote coming up in November. Don't forget to vote in that one."

Newsweek has reached out to Jagger spokesperson via online form for comment.

However, in an emailed statement emailed to Newsweek, Trump's spokesperson Steven Cheung condemned Jagger, adding that Trump "will return to the White House" while taking aim at Biden.

"Mick can't always get what he wants. President Trump will return to the White House because Americans are sick and tired of having a weak, failed, and dishonest leader like Crooked Joe Biden," Cheung said.

This comes after Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August and face criminal racketeering charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the state's electoral results in the 2020 election won by Joe Biden. Trump and the remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.

However, on Wednesday an appeals court in Georgia has indefinitely paused the case against Trump, pending a ruling on defendants' efforts to disqualify Willis from the investigation.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE – FROM VARIETY

WAS SOMEONE TROLLING TRUMP BY PLAYING CREEDENCE’S DRAFT-DODGER-SLAMMING ‘FORTUNATE SON’ AT HIS MILITARY PARADE? OR IS IT JUST THE FURTHER DEATH OF IRONY?

By Chris Willman

Was the music for Saturday’s military parade in Washington, D.C. covertly programmed by the “No Kings” movement?

That’s the question some were asking on social media after the event, spearheaded by President Donald J. Trump, which featured the repeated playing of Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s classic “Fortunate Son” — a song that virtually the entire world knows by now was written during the Vietnam era as a slam against wealthy draft dodgers. The assumption being made by at least a few tweeters was that this had to be some kind of deliberate trolling of the president by someone on the music selection team who just has it in for him. Because if you were going to make a top 10 list of songs that Trump should not want to have played at any of his events — but most of all not at a military-themed ceremony — “Fortunate Son” would certainly be No. 1.

John Fogerty to Release New Recordings of Creedence Clearwater Revival Songs — Basically ‘John’s Versions’

Was Someone Trolling Trump by Playing Creedence's Draft-Dodger-Slamming 'Fortunate Son' at His Military Parade? Or Is It Just the Further Death of Irony?

In 2020, in fact, no less a figure than the song’s author, John Fogerty (a military veteran), directly made the connection between Trump and the rich kids who got out of the draft that he was writing about back in the day. “It seems like he is probably the Fortunate Son,” Fogerty said at the time. There could hardly be a worse insult.

So it’s tantalizing to entertain the thought that someone from the left infiltrated the ranks of the president’s music department to include the Creedence song as part of a parade in which active-duty members of the armed forces marched past the figure who has sometimes been chided as “President Bone Spurs,” in honor of the medical deferment that got Trump out of the draft. (He said in 2016 that the condition made it difficult for him to walk at the time he submitted his doctor’s note, but “over a period of time, it healed up.”)

Programming this as a near-subliminal diss would not quite count as a covert operation on the level of Ukraine sneaking hundreds of drones into Russia for a coordinated attack… but close enough.

But “inside jobs” can also be accomplished through sheer cluelessness, and bumbling self-sabotage is probably the easiest explanation for the jaw-dropper of a music synch here. After all, there is a long history of Trump’s campaigns and administrations using “Fortunate Son” — mostly before Fogerty made headlines five years ago saying he wrote it as a slam against people like Trump, but also since. Either Trump’s music people stuck their fingers in their ears as people pointed out that use of the Creedence song just created fresh opportunities for the world to be reminded that he was able to avoid military service… or else they have just soldiered on with it — so to speak — in a “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” sort of way, imagining that they could bring everyone around to thinking that the song will just have positive connotations from here on out.

Fogerty made it clear enough when he made his statement about Trump’s use of “Fortunate Son” in 2020: “Recently, the president has been using my song ‘Fortunate Son’ for his political rallies, which I find confounding, to say the least. So I thought I’d explain a little bit about what ‘Fortunate Son’ is about.” He explained that he “wrote the song back in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War. By the time I wrote the song, I already had been drafted and had served in the military, and I’ve been a lifelong supporter of our guys and gals in the military, probably because of that experience, of course. Anyway, back in those days we still had a draft. And something I was very upset about was the fact that people of privilege — in other words, rich people, or people that had position — could use that to avoid the draft and not be taken into the military. I found it very upsetting that such a thing could occur, and that’s why I wrote ‘Fortunate Son.’ That’s really what the whole intent of the song (was).”

Fogerty continued, “The very first lines of ‘Fortunate Son’ are: ‘Some folks are born made to wave the flag, oooh, they’re red white and blue / But when the band plays “Hail to the Chief,” they point the cannon at you.’ Well, that’s exactly what happened recently in Lafayette Park when the president decided to take a walk across the park. He cleared out the area using federal troops so that he could stand in front of St. John’s Church with a Bible.” He concluded: “It’s a song I could have written now. So I find it confusing, I would say, that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact it seems like he is probably the Fortunate Son.”

The keepers of the parade doubled down on “Fortunate Son” as part of Saturday’s festivities. First, it was heard in an instrumental version as the soldiers marched, and later, a vocal rendition was heard coming from the stage in video shot at the landing spot for the event.

If it seems that Trump’s people have been impervious to complaints about their use of music, what was heard Saturday indicates that they have been reactive to anything that might land them legally in hot water. The versions of “Fortunate Son” and other songs at the parade were cover versions — live or re-recorded — that avoid running afoul of not having procured a license to use the original master recordings. This was the case at the GOP convention last summer, as well, where, at last, no one had to wonder why “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was being used without permission again, and why.

But as for why Trump’s circle would deliberately want to use even a cover version of a song that virtually shouts, “Hey, remember a long time ago when there were people saying the president was a privileged chicken? Can we start that up again?”…

At the very least, it is the best possible illustration we’ve yet had of the death of irony. Or, at most, the Trump team has a sleeper cell in their employ, setting him up. If that’s too high a level of intrigue to be true, we can probably just assume that this points to everyone involved with this bone-spurred — sorry, bone-headed — move falling into a category of artistic appreciation best summed up by the late Leonard Cohen: You don’t really care for music, do ya?

ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO – FROM IUK

SEEMINGLY INTOXICATED GUEST IS CUT OFF DURING FOX NEWS APPEARANCE TO TALK TRUMP PARADE

Isabel Keane Sun, June 15, 2025 at 10:10 AM EDT

Fox News hosts had to cut an interview discussing President Donald Trump’s military parade short after their guest appeared to be drunk on-air.

Hours into their coverage of Trump’s military parade honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which fell on the president’s 79th birthday, hosts Lawrence Jones and Emily Compagno ran into trouble while interviewing Rebekah Koffler, a pro-Trump former intelligence officer, Mediaite reported.

Before her on-air appearance, Koffler shared a foreboding image of a bottle of Saint-Hilaire on X.

“Well @POTUS is apparently encroaching on my airtime! My hit is moved to 8:20 – 8:30 pm depending on how long #Trump takes. I’m honored. Refilling my #champagne glass while waiting for my hit!” she wrote.

When Koffler was finally on-air, Compagno asked what she thought of the parade’s “incredible symbolism and messaging.”

Koffler replied, while slurring her words, “I am so excited, Emily, and Lucas Tomlinson, everybody. Like, this is incredible. Finally the United States is… uh… is back.”

“I want really thank all of our Army, Navy, and Air Force officers who have been sacrificing their lives, literally. Their families have been contributing to the mission. Most of the time for the past quarter of a century because of the mismanagement of the, uh, the administrative state, they’ve been fighting these foreign wars. But with our new commander-in-chief, Donald J. Trump, they are prioritizing America first,” she slurred.

Koffler then began to drag on, telling hosts, “And I wanna thank these officers for all of these sacrifices and all of the hardships that their families have endured. Lawrence Jones, you are doing– you’re your [unintelligible], man! You guys and [unintelligible] Lucas! I wanna thank–” before she was cut off.

Koffler did not appear to address her hit on her social media.

PEANUT GALLERY

Assist

The recent military parade in Washington, D.C., celebrating the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary was criticized for having a smaller-than-expected turnout, with many attendees noting that the crowd was sparse compared to the permits issued for 250,000 people. This led to discussions about the ev...

A Veteran

I think most of the attendees were there to stake out good viewing spots for the fireworks display. The rest of the festivities were sub-par.

Another way

I was at a No Kings rally yesterday and it was filled with exuberant Veterans and citizens celebrating democracy and rejecting Trumps America of authoritarianism.

The military should be celebrated--but how are you going to celebrate the military while cutting Veterans jobs and health care and cut th...

Mark

Don't be surprised if Trump promotes Ms. Koffler to assistant Secretary of Defense, or some other important post, because she is truly a great American. America only deserves the best people in the Trump administration.

茹

This scene is really a bit outrageous. The host had no choice but to cut off the show when they invited someone who looked drunk to the show. This also shows whether some media want to have a serious discussion or just seek popularity and drama. What's more ironic is that this kind of scene is beco...

Huey

Just the officers? What about the men and women who are the backbone of the military, the enlisted personnel. They get paid half or less than the officers do.

Corsair

"we are not to be used as political prop!"

Regards,

D. Young

“I want really thank all of our Army, Navy, and Air Force officers who have been sacrificing their lives, literally.

Making America Gullible Again strikes again. First this “parade” celebrates the birthday of the US Army. Second she leaves out the officers of USMC.

Bob

Why was a North Korea or Russian style military parade necessary to honor our military service men, women and veterans?

We honor and celebrate our heroes every year on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Take the $45+ million expense and spend it on helping our veterans.

Don’t be fooled by a man who speaks...

Paul

Tanked -- Just like the parade.

The

Drinking would have been the only way I could have made it through that parade too.

MWP

Maybe she was out on the town with Pete Hegseth prior to the interview

David

At first I thought of whiskey Pete or Jeanine Pinot Grigio when they said Foxy news person. and alcohol

Doug

Most of the cabinet is inebriated.

Emily

I am sad that Trump made the 250th anniversary of our grand Army all about Trump.

Curt Manners

The soft drink machine at Fox has an assortment of canned and bottled alcohol beverages so that Pete and other guests feel right at home.

Did I read correctly that this creature was involved in some kind of intelligence?

M

ONLY the best people, right?

Lyddite

She is more coherent than Trump though.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY THREE – FROM WASHPOST

TRUMP WANTED A MILITARY SPECTACLE. INSTEAD, HE GOT A HISTORY LESSON.

The parade must go on, and the Army sidestepped a major crisis of image and messaging.

by Philip Kennicott June 15, 2025 at 2:49 p.m. EDT

The Army’s 250th birthday parade was not the grand military spectacle that many anticipated, and for that Americans can breathe a momentary, measured sigh of relief.

It was a family-friendly conclusion to a celebratory day, with events on the Mall and fireworks at the end. What had been billed as an overwhelming display of military might turned out to be a linear history lesson, from the early days of revolution to the age of robotic dogs and flying drones. A narrator made sense of it all over loudspeakers and for those watching the live stream on television, with a script that rarely strayed from the Army’s disciplined sense of itself as a lethal fighting machine in the service of democracy and the Constitution.

The tone was reminiscent of the wall texts and exhibits at the National Museum of the United States Army, which opened on the grounds of Fort Belvoir in November 2020, during one of the most dangerous moments in recent American history. Like Saturday’s parade, the museum celebrates the Army’s history, but it does so with the temperance and nuance of serious professional historians, and a well-crafted historical and cultural narrative that largely steers clear of propaganda. It opened in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s first term, after he lost reelection, and only days after he fired his defense secretary, Mark T. Esper. There was, at the time, considerable anxiety that Trump might attempt to use the Army to sustain his false claims of election fraud.

That Army, which has a keen sense of its own aesthetics, had been embroiled in Trump’s efforts to politicize it earlier in his first administration. In June 2020, a photograph of members of the D.C. National Guard on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial went viral, during the unsettled days of national protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. That picture, of troops seemingly deployed and ready for combat, standing in an orderly phalanx on the steps of the memorial, recalled the horror of the 1970 Kent State shootings, when Ohio National Guard troops fired on unarmed student protesters, killing four of them. It also seemed to presage a new age of domestic militarism, with the U.S. Army loyal not to the Constitution, but to Trump personally.

What to know about the massive Army parade in DC

The same anxiety preceded Saturday’s parade, especially after a speech earlier in the week by Trump at Fort Bragg, during which uniformed troops booed mentions of former president Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and cheered Trump’s partisan MAGA message. But on Saturday, at least, the Army stuck to its familiar themes of service, sacrifice and duty. The result was a display of civics, not power.

The president was supposedly inspired to demand a military parade, an exceptionally rare event in recent U.S. history, after seeing a very different display on Bastille Day 2017, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Given Trump’s admiration for strongman leaders in Russia and China, there was worry that the Army parade might hew to the authoritarian geometry of military spectacles in totalitarian countries, especially the absurdist mix of camp and menace favored by the regime in North Korea.

But the soldiers who paraded past the presidential reviewing stand on Constitution Avenue walked with a loose-limbed gait, disciplined but not robotic, with individual soldiers integrated into the collective without losing their identity. Those riding by on tanks, trucks and other combat vehicles waved and smiled, engaging with an enthusiastic crowd. The announcer often sounded as if he were narrating a fashion show for machines rather than a military parade. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle: “It is fast, it is tough, and it is lethal.”

Parades always come with a message, which is why so many people were wary. When the American painter Childe Hassam painted a series of patriotic events, including a Fourth of July parade, before America’s entry into World War I, he offered an innocent, exuberant vision of red, white and blue, all but overwhelming the individual marchers, as if flags, banners and bunting were sufficient to win a battle. But he was also positing an image of a unified America, during a period of considerable anxiety over mass immigration from European countries not deemed sufficiently Anglo-Saxon to fit a racist model of the country’s emerging imperial identity. The impressionist blending of colors mimics the blurring of origins in the proverbial American melting pot.

The last big U.S. military parade in Washington, held in 1991 after the Gulf War, wasn’t just a welcome home for the troops, but also an effort to allay the alienation of many Americans from their armed forces following the debacle in Vietnam. Since at least World War II, the Bastille Day review in Paris has been an even more complicated affair, a Gaullist effort to prioritize visions of orderly state power over leftist memories of modern France’s birth in revolution and bloodletting.

In Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 Nazi propaganda film, “Triumph of the Will” — a terrifying compendium of parades and military spectacles — there is a scene in which Adolf Hitler walks through a vast empty space flanked by hundreds of troops. They have been reduced to the fascist ideal, mechanical dots on a relentless grid, remote and so distant from the leader to affirm the vast difference in their status: One man alone has agency, all the rest are part of the machine.

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Riefenstahl’s image reminds us of a basic rule of thumb for analyzing a military parade: Look to the edges. Is the army of and among the people, or does it cut its own space, cleaving the throng, inhabiting its own power separate from civilian society? The U.S. Army has complicated edges; it is professional and thus apart from the civilian world, but it is also voluntary, and thus integrated into the fabric of American society. Heavy security on Saturday kept the people apart from the troops, but individual service members often seemed intent on bridging the distance, with waves and smiles.

That offered a sharp contrast with the presence of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles, where the governor insists that they are not wanted or needed, where the edges of their presence are sharp and dangerous, and could be cutting. This year marks not just the 250th anniversary of the Army’s birth, but also the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which was the all-time nadir of the military’s reputation in the United States. The parade on Saturday could have done exceptional damage to a decades-long effort to climb out of that hole.

The current president is extraordinarily good at creating situations that force unique message discipline on his critics. Thus, people who are deeply troubled by the unprecedented federal use of the National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles were invited to hate on an unnecessary and costly (up to $45 million estimated) but mostly benign Army celebration in Washington. But the Army proved even better at message discipline, keeping attention on its history, its service and its members.

One early warning sign of a shift in the Army’s allegiance will be a fraying of how it tells its own story: If it fires its historians — or attempts to coerce their compliance, as seems to be happening in other institutions, including the Smithsonian — there will be even more serious trouble ahead. But on Saturday, it kept that history in the foreground, and even the president looked bored during much of it, which isn’t surprising. The Army made it about the country, not the man.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY FOUR – FROM TIME

TRUMP’S PARADE CAN’T COVER UP HOW HE MADE AMERICA WEAKER

By Jane Harman Jun 13, 2025 7:17 AM ET

On June 14, a “big beautiful” military parade will make its way through the streets of Washington. Officially, it commemorates the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, a milestone worthy of recognition. But it also happens to fall on President Trump’s 79th birthday.

The pageantry will not only honor Army history, it will serve as a made-for-television moment to reinforce the image of a president who claims to have restored American strength. Staged just days after he federalized National Guard troops and readied Marines for deployment to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests, the parade is meant to showcase “lethality” and to fulfill Trump's long-held vision of tanks moving down the capital’s broad avenues. (see below) The estimated cost: $25 to 45 million, although that could increase significantly if the tanks cause damage to DC’s roads.

00:00

But real strength isn’t measured by parades. It’s measured by whether the United States is more secure, our alliances stronger, and our adversaries more constrained. On that front, the picture is far less celebratory.

China’s military expansion is accelerating. Its navy is now the world’s largest. Its presence in cyberspace, space, and critical infrastructure continues to grow. U.S. rhetoric hasn’t slowed Beijing—if anything, it has only deepened its resolve. The Commission on the National Defense Strategy, which I chaired, reached the unanimous bipartisan conclusion that America’s defense industrial base is too slow and too fragile to keep pace with global demands. It is not keeping up with China’s rapid military buildup and would struggle to support the demands of a sustained conflict—especially in multiple theaters. Defense Secretary Hegseth recently delivered a forceful speech on the Indo-Pacific in Singapore, but his focus at home has been on fighting culture wars, eliminating diversity initiatives, and now overseeing the deployment of federal troops in U.S. cities. The Trump Administration’s stated goal is to refocus the Pentagon on lethality, but in practice, these efforts have become a distraction from that mission. Meanwhile, our trade policies are alienating the very allies we need to help push back on China.

In Ukraine, President Trump once promised to end the war in a day. That promise feels farther away than ever. Despite the administration’s efforts to work toward a cease-fire, Russia has stepped up both its aerial bombardment and ground offensives. This week alone, it launched nearly 500 drones and missiles in a single night—the largest such barrage since the war began. At the same time, Ukraine has launched its own deep strikes inside Russia, including recent drone attacks on military airfields. Meanwhile, the most recent peace talks yielded little more than a prisoner exchange and the administration continues to pull back from a conflict that once galvanized the West. A bipartisan Senate bill to impose secondary sanctions on Russia’s enablers has more than 80 co-sponsors, but it’s stalled. And Russian President Vladimir Putin is watching.

In Gaza, cease-fire talks remain stuck, while hostages remain captive and the humanitarian situation teeters on the brink. Hamas demands a permanent truce; Israel insists on a temporary pause. Negotiators haven’t bridged the divide. Trump’s broader vision for the region, anchored in Saudi-Israel normalization, is now on ice. Riyadh isn’t moving forward without a credible path for Palestinians. And Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, once central to his regional strategy, has frayed.

Then there’s Iran. Nearly a decade ago, the Trump Administration withdrew from the nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama, promising to replace it with something tougher and more durable. That alternative never materialized. Now, the administration is advancing a new proposal that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels in the short term, while negotiations proceed on a broader agreement to eventually halt all enrichment on Iranian soil. But Iran insists it will never give up that right. This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency formally censured Iran for failing to disclose nuclear activities—its first such resolution in 20 years. Tehran has condemned the move and vowed to expand enrichment. Trump has said he is “less confident” a deal is within reach. Meanwhile, Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium continues to grow, Israeli officials are openly weighing military options, and the United States is evacuating diplomats and military families from Iraq duMIe to rising tensions. It’s hard to see what’s been gained.

For all the noise and bluster coming out of Washington, the United States today feels anything but strong. Instead, we are alienating allies, retreating from international commitments, and projecting uncertainty. Trump’s attempts to convey otherwise ring hollow.

Which brings us back to the parade.

The Army’s 250 years of service deserve deep respect. Its soldiers have defended not just our territory, but the democratic values we aspire to uphold. But if this administration truly wants to project American strength, it should focus less on optics and more on outcomes. From Eastern Europe to the South China Sea, our adversaries are asserting themselves. Our alliances are under pressure. And we are stepping back from the principles of freedom and liberty we once championed.

So it’s a bit strange, then, to stage a parade. At a time when American power feels diminished and uncertain, the spectacle may land differently than intended. The world may see it as a performance—and the birthday boy may not like the reviews.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY FIVE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST

TRUMP CALLS US ARMY ‘THE GREATEST, FIERCEST, AND BRAVEST FIGHTING FORCE EVER’ AS OVER 100 TANKS RUMBLE THROUGH PARADE ROUTE

By Ryan King and Victor Nava Published June 14, 2025 Updated June 15, 2025, 7:18 a.m. ET

President Trump looked on as thousands of troops and more than 100 tanks rumbled through the rainy streets of Washington, DC, on Saturday for the Army’s 250th anniversary parade. 

Calling the Army “the greatest, fiercest, and bravest fighting force ever to stride the face of this earth,” Trump said that a parade celebrating the wars won by America’s vaunted land force has been long overdue.

“Every other country celebrates their victories,” Trump said in his post-parade speech. “It’s about time America did too.” 

The Army is hosting the first major military parade in Washington, DC, in nearly 34 years.Getty Images

Trump, with first lady Melania and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by his side, saluted service members as they strolled past the reviewing stand dressed in uniforms tethered to each major time period in the Army’s two-and-a-half-century history. 

The president, who also celebrated his 79th birthday Saturday, was surrounded by several family members, administration officials and Republican lawmakers in the VIP booth.

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The parade to celebrate the anniversary of the Army’s founding on June 14, 1775 — which came just over a year before the Declaration of Independence — featured an array of military hardware. 

The processions honoring the Army’s history began just before 6:30 p.m., starting with troops and drum and fife players in colonial-era livery worn during the  Revolutionary War. 

An Army Golden Knights parachute team made a spectacular entrance during the portion of the parade honoring the 18th-century era troops, appearing to jump ahead of schedule to avoid inclement weather.  

The elite parachutists landed in the Ellipse near the White House, and one of the Golden Knights presented Trump with the flag flown during free fall when the event concluded, at around 8:30 p.m.

Troops from the 4th Infantry Division followed, representing the Civil War-era of the Army, complete with cavalry soldiers. 

Soldiers clad in World War I and World War II era uniforms marched down Constitution Avenue, along the National Mall, next. 

Those processions included several pieces of iconic rolling stock from the period, including a 1918 Dodge touring car, Jeep scout cars, a Renault tank and several M4 “Sherman” tanks. 

An assortment of festivities took place at the National Mall before the parade.Getty Images

A B-25 Mitchell bomber –the same aircraft used to carry out the Doolittle Raid over Japan – flanked by two P-51 Mustangs performed a flyover over the parade to cap the celebration of the era. 

The Vietnam War section of the parade began with a helicopter flyover. 

Massive M1 Abrams tanks lumbered past the president during the Gulf War-era procession, their treads creaking as they rolled down the avenue.  

The Global War on Terror and Modern Era part of the parade showcased some of the Army’s newer heavy artillery, including Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Infantry Squad Vehicles and self-propelled Howitzers.

Black Hawk helicopters and Apaches provided aerial cover for these marchers. 

“How awesome is that?” one passerby said as the Apaches roared by the Washington Monument.

The parade captures the Army’s history from the colonial era to the modern era.Getty Images

The final sections of troops represented the Army’s future, and included small drones flying over the heads of soldiers and robot dogs in camouflage paint.

“The Army keeps us free. You make us strong. And tonight you have made all Americans very proud,” Trump said in his closing remarks. “They are watching from all over the world.” 

“The US Army has driven bayonets into the heart of sinister empires and crushed the ambitions of evil tyrants beneath the treads of American tanks,” the president continued. 

Military items from each era will be on full display, including military vehicles and iconic weaponry seen firsthand.REUTERS

Trump declared: “Time and again, America’s enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you, your defeat will be certain, your demise will be final and your downfall will be total and complete – because our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never, ever quit.” 

“They fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win.” 

The president’s speech concluded just as dusk fell on DC, before the fireworks went off and singer Lee Greenwood performed “God Bless the USA,” one of Trump’s favorite tunes.

Trump has long set his sights on a blowout military parade, marveling at such spectacles in other countries.

He’s also previously butted heads with DC officials over his hope for tanks to roll down the streets of the nation’s capital.

Trump was granted his longstanding wish of having tanks roll down the streets of DC after the Army agreed to put one-inch-thick metal plates along parts of the route, situated the 128 vehicles with rubber on their treads, and set aside funding for possible repairs.

On the same day of the celebration of the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army, “No King” protests were on full display across the nation as a “day of defiance” against President Trump.

The procession started on 23rd Street NW near the Lincoln Memorial and ended just past the Washington Monument and the White House at 15th Street NW.

Over 6,600 soldiers participated in the grand parade.

Instrumental versions of Journey’s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and Heart’s “Barracuda” were among the songs blared during the festivities.

Saturday also happened to be Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day, marking the anniversary of the Stars and Stripes becoming the official US flag on June 14, 1777.

As the president and first lady took the stage before the start of the parade, a group of individuals wearing “250 special guest” badges across the street from the reviewing stand began singing “Happy Birthday.” 

The parade, estimated to cost between $25 to $45 million to put on, was sponsored by several corporations that received shout-outs during the processions, including Lockheed Martin, Coinbase, Palantir and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Warren Zeiders was one of the notable individuals who took the stage to perform at the 250th birthday celebration for the U.S. Army, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.

The president delivered brief remarks to new Army recruits as the parade concluded and attendees were treated to a country music performance. 

Beforehand, there were a series of events held on the National Mall to celebrate the Army and entertain parade-goers, including a cake cutting, fitness challenge, military demonstrations and equipment displays.

During the peak of the parade, the Federal Aviation Administration halted flights into Reagan National Airport, which is just over the Potomac River in Virginia.

The day of the events began at the National Mall, making its way to the main event in Washington, D.C., where fireworks went off to capture the moment of the historic day of the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.AP

Meanwhile, a kaleidoscope of leftist groups organized some 2,000 “No King” protests across the country to mark a “day of defiance” against Trump, who they rage is engaging in authoritarian tendencies by putting on the blockbuster parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday.

Protesters were lined up all outside the security perimeter of the parade route, and The Post witnessed some attempting to sneak into the event. 

A few were seen wearing “F— Israel” shirts and were shouting the slogan as well. 

Craig, 39, from Kentucky, traveled to DC with his father, a veteran, and braved the long security lines manned by TSA and Secret Service agents to see the parade.

“I thought they did an impressive job, especially emphasizing the different periods of the Army during different periods of service, of soldiers,” he told The Post.

“I thought it was fairly modest in terms of it being a show of force parade. They didn’t have ballistic missiles on flatbed trucks like you would see in coverage of other military parades around the world.”

Michelle Lee, 56, from North Carolina, who traveled to DC for the parade with her Army veteran fiancé, marveled at the spectacle.

“It’s just overwhelming. You’ve got the monument, you’ve got the Capitol. You got the president,” she told The Post after the parade concluded. “It’s great to be an American.”

The patriotic crowd, with those in American flag apparel vastly outnumbering revelers in MAGA gear, chanted “USA” at several points throughout the parade. 

The celebration marked the first military parade in DC in 34 years, since the end of the first Gulf War.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY SIX – FROM THE NEW YORK POST

PEANUT GALLERY

Sapren

12 hours ago

This parade this military parade was absolutely spectacular and what a celebration! Boo to the people that tried to degrade this 250 year acknowledgment and celebration of the US Army in military! The history was amazing and so needed to be told because believe any of the kids today are being in hi...See more

Jackson

I was very disappointed in the Fox coverage! The hosts were the center of attention instead of the parade and would not stop talking.

JusticeForAll

Awesome. I wish I could have attended but the expense associated with D.C. & its surroundings made it cost prohibitive for us. Regretfully the majority of the media publicized this wonderful event with a negative spin when in fact it should have been a joyful celebration for our armed forces. Sadly...

NY Post Reader

it was great. watched it on Right Side Broadcasting on you tube where it has been recorded for all who couldn't watch. really almost unbelievable. long and in the beginning it seems like a little boring. but picks up. seeing all the tanks, trucks, different 'members' of the army and different group...

DJ17

I liked all of it.

Joep44

I saw this type of parade growing up every Memorial Day ..

REDHAT RATIONALE

I missed seeing Elon saluting. Maybe he was stuck in traffic.

Jimmy DarkCloud

Did you enjoy the “No Kings” parade after voting for the Queen of Spades?

William Johne

You can watch that recording when your Medicaid gets cut!

You helped pay for it!

Bionic Mann

Climb back under your rock please, your not welcome here.

Kenny Steele

More people watched Caitlin Clarke in the wnba game. Taco = Loser

OliverK

proof or Sierra Tango Foxtrot Ukulele.

GH

Yes, we have a grea atmy. But this pa

DJ17

I also watched. Large crowds, smiling soldiers, and impressive vehicles and planes. Thank you, President Trump.

GodHelpThisCountry

There were no large crowds, sorry MAGA

pazman

So Tim Walz hopes it rains on a parade that honors the American Armies 250th anniversary. So hopes it rains on the men,women and families of these heroes. This isn’t Trumps parade. But an American pride parade. Thank god he lost and to think he wanted to be vice president

DK

It's definitely a Trump parade. Did you see the 87 year old Vet in a wheelchair get arrested for protesting cuts to Veterans? Protesting by sitting in his wheelchair. A real way to honor our military and Veterans is to ensure they have what they need. Put their lives on the line for us but our gove...

Big Gee

American patriots are enjoying the US Army’s 250th Anniversary Celebration Parade 🇺🇸 It’s a huge success and the weather is fine. 🇺🇸 God Bless America and the US Army 🇺🇸

Matt Doyle

Guess there’s very few “patriots” since no one went

LindaNYC

While the Trump team claims over 250,000 attended his parade, it was actually well under 200,000 (even FOX News has reported this) and anyone who watched online could easily see it was nowhere near a packed crowd. In contrast, the No Kings Protests drew well over 5,000,000 nationwide. Speaks volu...

Shadow banned

The post above said 11 million now it is down to 5 million. Where was all this since it never got any coverage except where they rioted? This is a Republic not a democracy mob rule does not work here.

Ian Beck

No army, no USA.

It was wonderful to see the army and the individuals who choose to serve honored.

Sue Paolo

20 hours ago

$45M well spent...especially when considering it came out of the $2B annual DoD recruiting budget.

johnsmith1949

Yes it was spectacular...truly priceless

ATTACHMENT THIRTY SEVEN – FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC

SAD!

TRUMP’S MILITARY PARADE WAS A PATHETIC EVENT FOR A PATHETIC PRESIDENT

By Malcolm Ferguson June 15, 2025

The turnout wasn’t anything like what he wanted—and not everyone who showed up was even a fan of his.

Three dozen horses, 28 Abrams tanks, 6,700 soldiers, and millions of taxpayer dollars later, and Donald Trump’s military birthday parade was still a flop at best. 

A crowd that was well under the administration’s projected 200,000 peppered the National Mall Saturday in a festival-style event featuring Army info sessions, military fitness challenges, weapons exhibits, and other activities prior to the parade. Military members spoke onstage the entire time to a sparse audience, as most of the attendees perused the various offerings, hoisting their children up into the massive tanks and turrets sitting on the mall for pictures. 

There was a sense of giddy satisfaction in the air as the parade’s 6 p.m. start time approached. It was the same feeling I noticed during inauguration weekend: a crowd that felt victorious  and vindicated, and knew it was among friends. People rushed to the front of the route as the parade began and expressed genuine awe and joy as Black Hawk helicopters, Howitzers, and other heavy-duty war machinery trudged down Constitution Avenue. 

But the parade itself was quite boring, save for those few movements. It was generally very quiet—so quiet you could clearly hear the creaks and squeaks of the armored vehicles—with intermittent music that was constantly being lowered so that the parade narrator could announce each battalion. Weak chants of “USA, USA” popped up every 10 minutes or so. And the majority of the parade was just soldiers walking by—not even marching in step with each other—in military garb from wars past. Children grew weary in the humidity,  as did some adults. One man wearing an Infowars.com shirt kept yelling, “Bring out the tanks!!” and complained that “people got no energy out here.” Another started scrolling on TikTok. There were large cheers for West Point and some confused murmurs for the Boston Dynamics robot dogs. 

The event didn’t truly begin to feel electric until the parade ended and Trump and JD Vance spoke. Crowds of people hurried to the other side of the mall to catch just a glimpse of Trump as he spoke behind a humongous piece of glass hundreds of yards away for about seven minutes. The finale featured massive fireworks and more music, as people linked arms and swayed while they sang, “I’m Proud to Be an American.” 

“No exaggeration ... this is the most patriotic I’ve ever seen America,” said Malik Meeks, a 20-year-old man who stood alone screaming “AMERICAAA” into the night sky while the fireworks went off. He is currently attempting to join the Air Force. 

Many of the attendees felt that this parade was necessary because the military had been disrespected, weakened, and kneecapped by “the left.” They believed that a show of force and pride could directly remedy that, cost and optics be damned. 

“I think there’s a gigantic disconnect between the American populace and the military. The military has turned into a culture of warriors. It’s like a family thing now, right?” said Brandon, a 24-year retired Army veteran from Pennsylvania who didn’t want to give his last name. Brandon was actually at the last military parade of this stature, the Gulf War victory parade in the summer of 1991. “People walking down the street will say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ but … they won’t suggest it to their teenage children or the people in their lives.” 

This perceived disconnect from the civilian public is exactly why Brandon felt the parade was important. 

“I don’t think [civilians] really quite understand what it takes or what goes into it. [They think] it’s for someone else. ‘It’s not for me.’ Someone else’s child, someone else’s spouse, someone else’s parent.… This is obviously a large kind of national event. But even having a National Guard display at a local carnival, I think, helps to bring greater connection between the public and those who serve.”

Air Force member Carlton Guthrie, 22, who was there with his wife, Whitney, told me that the tense political moment, particularly in the Middle East, called for a display such as this. 

“I think now is a scarier time than people think it is, just because we’re not really deployed as much as we used to be in the Middle East. It’s probably one of the scariest times in our country’s history where we have a bunch of people who hate us. So I think it’s a good time to show that we aren’t weak, because there’s lots of propaganda saying that the Army’s weak or the military is getting soft.” 

Guthrie also felt that Trump’s military support of Israel’s bombing of Iran was warranted given that “they chant Death to America in the streets of Iran. They don’t do that on the streets of Israel.… I think if Iran were left there to keep doing what they’re doing, it’ll just keep growing until it gets to us anyway.”

Justin Walz, who brought his wife and three young children from Farmville, Virginia, to the parade for Father’s Day weekend, told me that Trump’s parade sent a positive signal to young American men, many of whom he thinks are lost. 

“These young boys are looking for a father figure. And currently, there really are no father figures, a lot of fatherless homes,” he said. “And that’s the reason Trump has gained so much popularity in the younger community.”

Several QAnon TikTok influencers were also among the paltry crowd. Judy Alston of Delaware was a proud January 6er, sharing that her son-in-law even called the FBI on her for attending the 2021 insurrection. She went back the very next year. They all gave the usual QAnon spiel—All of our elected officials are sex-trafficking pedophiles, Hillary Clinton drinks kids’ blood to stay young, and Trump is somehow the only one brave enough to expose them. They told me that the parade wasn’t just a show of force, it was a “mask-off” event that would bring an end to the “250 years of disrespect” that the military has faced. One of them wore a “King Trump” shirt, while the other had a Pepe the frog necklace. One gifted me a small book by Loy Brunson about why socialism was an “existential threat” and told me to save it for my future children. 

Each Trump supporter justified the parade’s hefty price tag by bringing up “illegals taking American jobs” or “all the other stupid stuff we pay for.” One man chalked the critique up to simple “radical left nonsense,” and was surprised when I told him that libertarian Senator Rand Paul had levied that same critique. 

The embarrassingly low turnout was exacerbated by the fact that not everyone was there to support Trump.

Two veterans in attendance made it clear that they were separating the military’s birthday from Trump’s birthday, as they disapproved of the president but felt an obligation to the Army to be there. One older veteran named Al told me he thought Trump wasn’t “thinking before he moved.” 

Many protesters (and even some “neutral” attendees) emphasized that they wanted to reclaim and redefine patriotism. They weren’t anti-military in the slightest, but they were against the way MAGA now feels synonymous with the armed forces. 

“A huge reason why we’re here is because Trump doesn’t own patriotism in this country, and I don’t think we should let him,” said Eric Whitman, 42, of Washington, D.C. “I think it’s important for every American regardless of what party you’re in or who you voted for to come and support the military.… I think we’re taking a horrible turn right now in light of the administration’s policies, but we’re still American.” 

Partners Jordan and Isabel, both in their thirties, were walking around the grounds with signs that read “Nobody paid me to be here, I protest for free” and “Happy 250th birthday Army, sorry TACO has you marching in the heat,” using the moniker for Trump that stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.

“To an extent, the military and the American flag, for a long time, have been kind of symbols of the MAGA group, but I don’t think that’s a fair representation to either of those parties,” Isabel noted. “So we’re trying to take it back again, and just show support for the military without showing support to MAGA.” 

Then there was Matt Hawthorne. While Trump was speaking, chants of “USA, USA” broke out that weren’t in response to the president. A small crowd had formed around one large white man with glasses who was screaming, “Traitor” and “Rapist” while Trump supporters surrounded him, shouting him down. They took Hawthorne’s protest sign, calling him a “stupid motherfucker.” He immediately pulled out another one that read “Cheer the troops. Boo the traitor. Using them as props,” and continued to holler until Park Police came over and the crowd dispersed. 

Hawthorne told me he wasn’t afraid for his safety as a “big, powerful” white man. “Trump said that protest would be met with ‘heavy force.’ … That’s when people have to protest,” he said. “I am the safest person who can protest, and so it’s crucial that I do that.”  

Like other liberal resisters, Hawthorne had no issue with the parade conceptually, just Trump’s use of the military.

“I support our military. I think it’s great to celebrate the Army’s birthday. I think that doing it so it ends at the White House on Trump’s birthday, with numerous birthday wishes for him, is wildly inappropriate and reminiscent of dictatorships around the world,” Hawthorne said. “If they wanted to do a historic parade, like a reconnection in Lexington and Concord, that would have been a wonderful birthday celebration for the Army. Traditionally, when the military has gone through D.C., it starts or ends at the U.S. Capitol to represent the people’s authority over our armed forces. Ending it at the White House is new, and shows how this president thinks that he should be the ultimate authority, which is authoritarianism.”

While MAGA loyalists left the parade satisfied, it’s clear that many Americans feel very conflicted about what U.S. military power and patriotism mean in the Trump era. And the low turnout will force MAGA to go to great lengths to spin a clear flop as a success. Trump wanted badly for this to be a grand, raucous, March on Washington–level event, and it just wasn’t close. Now American taxpayers paid millions so a few people could watch tanks rumble down the street while soldiers marched in centuries-old war cosplay. Happy birthday, Mr. President.  

Malcolm Ferguson

Malcolm Ferguson is an associate writer covering breaking news at The New Republic.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY EIGHT – FROM THE NATIONAL REVIEW

MSNBC ANCHORS SHOCKED BY LACK OF ‘DARK’ ENERGY AT MILITARY PARADE

By Brittany Bernstein June 16, 2025 2:19 PM

Welcome back to Forgotten Fact Checks. This week, we look at MSNBC’s recent coverage of President Trump and cover more media misses.

MSNBC Looks for Trump’s ‘Dark’ Energy

MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Chris Hayes were shocked over the weekend that the military parade honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C., didn’t give off “dark, malevolent energy.”

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“When we talk about the sort of tension in the country . . . you and I have both been at Trump rallies, those can be very tense, a kind of, I would say, like kind of a dark, malevolent energy, sometimes in them, not always, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the energy on the Mall today, which I think is a good sign, right?” Hayes asked Velshi.

“Correct. You’re really correct about that, Chris, and it’s something we were watching for. I’m just sort of surprised by the number of people who were at the front of the parade watching, cheering, and then would come and ask to take a selfie. This is a very different, this is a very different mood here. People seem to be going out of their way to say that they’re here to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday,” Velshi said.

Velshi added that while there was still politicization at the event — one person walked by and said “Trump 2028!” — it is “not dark, it’s not tense, it’s not amped up.”

“It’s different from covering a Trump rally,” he added of the military parade, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.

Elsewhere on MSNBC, contributor Eddie Glaude, a Princeton University professor, was discussing dark energy as it relates to Trump supporters and the ICE raids in Los Angeles.

During an appearance on Deadline: White House, Glaude said the immigration raids in L.A. reminded him of a time when the nation was divided between “slaveholders and slave catchers.”

“Folk have their red meat, now that they’re going to see the spectacle of quote, unquote ‘L.A. on fire,’ which is not right.

What will happen? Will that activate the ugliness that got him in office in the first place? Will folks now declare why they love him?” Glaude questioned. “Because we know that he’s always good on the immigration question.”

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“This reminds me historically of — it’s not a clear analogy — but when the nation, when these political factions divided the nation between slaveholders and slave catchers, when they made everybody with the Fugitive Slave Law, all of us had to, if someone escaped all of us had to return that particular piece of property to these folks, with ICE running around L.A., forcing people to make choices,” Glaude said.

“Will they protect their friends, their neighbors, their family members? Will they take, will they confront these folks?,” he asked.

“Here’s the thing: Donald Trump, as a political charlatan of sorts, gives Americans license to be who they really are. They don’t have to pretend and when you see what they really are, who they really are, these people who support him. Right? It’s dark,” Glaude said.

Of course, there is no comparison to be made between people who have knowingly entered the country illegally and people who were enslaved.

After celebrity Kim Kardashian said in recent days that immigrants in L.A. are suffering “fear and injustice” because of ICE raids in the city, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the county?”

And while MSNBC didn’t see a dark energy at the military parade, The View, ahead of the event, said it was similar to something one would see in Russia or North Korea.

“I don’t understand this,” co-host Sara Haines said Friday. “I can’t be the only one when I think of military parades, I think of Russia and North Korea and visuals of people saluting and doing things and that’s just not what I think of when I think of the U.S.”

“Senator Rand Paul said we were always different than these images and we were proud not to be that,” Haines added. “And then you also think about the conversations about cutting waste and here you’ve got like how much is this going to cost? $40 million.”

Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, recently told NBC News he would not have chosen to put on the military parade.

“I’m not sure what the actual expense of it is, but I’m not really, you know, we were always different than, you know, the images you saw in the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that,” Paul said.

Haines, for her part, said the parade “harkens” back to “World War II propaganda.”

“Who thinks, let’s cut all the aid and the school lunches and throw a parade that harkens World War II propaganda and just throw the money that way,” Haines said. “I can’t keep up with all of it.”

As CBS News reported, Trump’s military parade is not the first in U.S. history, though they are rare. “‘There are historical comparisons to be made, but size and scale is tremendously different,” Arizona State University history professor Brooks Simpson told CBS News.”

Headline Fail of the Week

CBS News faced backlash over the weekend after publishing a story that seemed more like an advertisement: “’No Kings’ day merch for sale on Amazon, Temu and other e-commerce sites.”

“No Kings” protests occurred across the country on Saturday, with protesters describing the demonstrations as a “day of defiance” against President Trump and his administration as they call for Trump to be “dethroned.”

After receiving criticism over the story, CBS broadened its scope, changing the headline to, “Retailers cash in on Army’s 250th anniversary and “No Kings” protest.”

An editor’s note added to the story read: “This story has been updated with more information about the range of items for sale.”

Media Misses

New York Times United Nations bureau chief Farnaz Fassihi was left to correct her social-media post referring to the “randomness” of Israeli strikes on Iran that hit residential neighborhoods. After receiving pushback over her tweet, which claimed “The randomness of strikes in residential neighborhoods have terrified Iranians,” she posted again looking to clarify her earlier message.”About my tweet yesterday, I meant to say the sense of randomness caused by the strikes in residential neighborhoods has terrified Iranians. As we’ve reported, Israel has said the strikes are targeted.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says people will start to notice the impact of ICE raids once there’s “nobody to do childcare” or tend to their gardens.

The View co-host Sunny Hostin says ICE is to blame for any chaos in L.A. “I spoke to five people that live in LA, that work in LA, and they said the protests were very, very orderly, they weren’t violent, and they occurred in about a four-block radius, and we all know how large LA is. And so, in my view, there is no crisis in Los Angeles that ICE did not cause. That is the fact of the matter, right?” Hostin said.

From DJI: Tammy Duckworth says Trump violated Posse Comitatus and “degrading” the military (Colbert)

ATTACHMENT THIRTY NINE – FROM FRANCE24

US SET FOR MILITARY PARADE AND ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS ON TRUMP’S BIRTHDAY

Issued on: 14/06/2025 - 09:44 Modified: 14/06/2025 –

US President Donald Trump is set to preside over a military parade at Washington, DC's Lincoln Memorial on his 79th birthday Saturday, as demonstrators ready to stage nationwide anti-Trump "No Kings" protests underscoring the deep divisions over his second term. In Los Angeles, armed Marines have been deployed amid protests against Trump's immigration policies. 

The massive military parade that President Donald Trump has long wanted is set to step off from the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday evening, with tanks, bands and thousands of troops.

And the biggest question marks are whether it will be overshadowed or delayed by either the weather in Washington or planned protests elsewhere around the country.

Falling on Trump’s 79th birthday, the parade was added just a few weeks ago to the Army’s long-planned 250th anniversary celebration. It has triggered criticism for its price tag of up to $45 million and the possibility that the lumbering tanks could tear up city streets. The Army has taken a variety of steps to protect the streets, including laying metal plates down along the route.

The daylong display of America’s Army comes as Trump has shown his willingness to use his fighting forces in ways other US presidents have typically avoided, inviting an array of lawsuits and accusations that he is politicising the military.

He has deployed the California National Guard and US Marines to provide security during Los Angeles protests tied to immigration raids. It marks the first time in 60 years that a president activated the National Guard on federal orders inside a state without a governor’s permission, and California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a lawsuit to stop the deployments.

Earlier in the week, Trump raised eyebrows during a speech at Fort Bragg when members of the 82nd Airborne Division were directed to stand behind Trump and they booed and cheered during his incendiary remarks, including condemnation of his predecessor, Joe Biden. There also was a pop-up “Make America Great Again” merchandise stand nearby selling souvenirs to troops in uniform.

The Defense Department has a doctrine that prohibits troops from participating in political activity while in uniform. Members of Congress and military leaders have expressed concerns about the political displays during the speech at Fort Bragg.

Trump so far has shrugged off concerns about the parade cost, the rainy forecast and the potential for protests.

“What a day it will be!!!” Trump wrote on his social media site, adding later that he hoped the weather would cooperate but that if it doesn't, “that brings you good luck. That’s OK too. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t affect the tanks at all. Doesn’t affect the soldiers. They’re used to it. They’re tough. Smart.”

As for the protests, he warned that “they will be met with very big force”.

The “No Kings” rallies planned in hundreds of cities nationwide are meant to counter what organizers say are Trump’s plans to feed his ego on his 79th birthday and Flag Day. No protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, however, and officials have said they so far have no indication of any security threat.

About 6 in 10 Americans say Saturday’s parade is “not a good use” of government money, including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

The parade will wind down Constitution Avenue, which is already lined with security fencing and barriers. Army helicopters and aircraft will fly above, and the march will be capped off by a parachute jump, a concert featuring “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood and fireworks.

With rain expected, there is a chance the parade could be interrupted by thunderstorms. 

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly has said the march will go on rain or shine. But it could be delayed if there is lightning, with authorities quick to empty the expansive National Mall if it happens during major events.

The parade fulfills Trump's expressed desire for a big parade that he tried to get done in his first presidential term after seeing one in France on Bastille Day in 2017. Trump said that after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Élysées, he wanted an even grander one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend the festival and parade. The festival will begin around 9:30 am EDT and feature fitness competitions, demonstrations, equipment displays, music and a cake-cutting ceremony.

The parade is set to begin at 6:30 pm EDT, but parts of it – including the horse-drawn caissons and other units – start at the Pentagon, head over a bridge and meet up with some of the heavier tanks and equipment. Officials did not want the more-than-60-ton M1A1 Abrams tanks and Stryker vehicles crossing the bridge.

Timed down to the minute, the march will be divided into sections by history – with equipment and troops in full dress from each period.

It will include a total of 6,169 soldiers and 128 Army tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery, while 62 aircraft fly overhead.

At the end of the parade, Trump will swear in 250 new or reenlisting troops, and the Army's Golden Knights parachute team will jump onto the Mall. That will be followed by the concert and fireworks.

ATTACHMENT FORTY – FROM AL JAZEERA

TRUMP PRESIDES OVER ARMY PARADE: CELEBRATION OR ‘DICTATOR BEHAVIOUR’?

By Joseph Stepansky Published On 15 Jun 2025

Washington, DC, US – It was the 250th birthday of the United States Army, and the 79th of President Donald Trump.

Tanks and other armored military vehicles rumbled down the streets of Washington, DC, on Saturday, in what Trump had teased as an “unforgettable” event and critics had called a pricey tribute to the “egoist-in-chief”.

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Speaking after the hour-long procession, which cut through a balmy evening dotted with raindrops, Trump framed the spectacle as a long time coming.

“Every other country celebrates their victories. It’s about time America did, too,” he told the crowd, which sprawled sparsely across the National Mall.

“That’s what we’re doing tonight,” he said.

Vice President JD Vance, who introduced the president at the end of the parade, was the only official to acknowledge the dual birthdays.

“June 14th is, of course, the birthday of the army. It is, of course, the birthday of the president of the United States,” he said. “Happy birthday, Mr President.”

For critics, the overlapping dates sent a disconcerting message.

Away from the celebrations, among about 100 protesters at Logan Circle in Washington, DC, Terry Mahoney, a 55-year-old Marine veteran, described the parade as “dictator behaviour”.

“If you take everything else he’s done, stomping on the US Constitution, this parade may just be window dressing,” he told Al Jazeera.

“But it’s the worst kind of window dressing,” said Mahoney, who was among the tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets to oppose Trump’s leadership on Saturday. “So I wanted to make sure that my voice was represented today.”

But blocks away, near the entrance to the heavily fortified parade route, Taras Voronyy, who travelled from South Carolina, was less concerned about the blurred lines of the parade than the soldiers it was honouring.

“It’s a chance to celebrate the military, and also, Trump will be here,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I was actually a little confused if it was supposed to be for the army’s 250th anniversary or for Trump’s birthday,” he said. “So I guess it’s a twofer.”

A birthday celebration

Trump had sought a massive military parade ever since attending a Bastille Day celebration in Paris in 2017, but faced pushback from defence officials during his first term.

This time around, he sent 28 Abrams tanks, a horde of armoured vehicles, cavalry, military planes and helicopters, both modern and antique, to the US capital, in a show of military hardware without comparison since 1991, when the US marked the end of the Gulf War.

Spectators gathered along Constitution Avenue – a thoroughfare that connects the White House to the US Capitol – for a pageant that stretched from the army’s 1775 birth, through World War II, the Vietnam War, and the so-called “war on terror”.

Trump’s arrival prompted cheers, and a handful of jeers, from the crowd, which was dotted with red Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats. Attendance appeared to be less than the military’s prediction of about 200,000 people.

For Freddie Delacruz, a 63-year-old army veteran who travelled from North Carolina for the parade, Trump’s birthday and the army celebration were distinct phenomena.

“It’s a coincidence,” he said. “I got married on June 6, which is the anniversary of D-day [the landing of Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy, France].”

“So these things happen,” he said. “But we’re here to support the army. I spent 32 years in the army – I want to see the tanks, the planes, the helicopters flying around.”

Delacruz also did not see much significance in Trump’s deployment earlier this week of the US National Guard to California to respond to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles and other cities.

Local officials and rights advocates have said the deployment, which was soon followed by Trump sending Marines to protect federal property and personnel, represented a major escalation and overreach of presidential power.

A judge on Thursday sided with a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, ruling that Trump’s deployment without the governor’s approval was unlawful. However, an appeals court paused the ruling just hours later, allowing the deployment to temporarily continue.

Delacruz acknowledged that Trump has “got a lot of power … I mean, he’s got the Department of Defense, he’s got the Department of State, and now, all the cabinet members are supporting him 100 percent”.

“But he’s still just the president, and he can’t control Congress,” he added. “This is what the people voted for.”

Aaron M, a 57-year-old army veteran from Miami, Florida, also said he did not see an issue with how Trump has used federal forces in local law enforcement.

Trump’s decision was the first time since 1965 that a president had activated the National Guard without a governor’s consent. Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have indicated that the approach could be replicated across the country.

In recent days, Trump has also floated invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow US troops to take part in domestic law enforcement, in what critics call a step towards martial law, but has not yet done so.

“If governors can’t get their states under control, then Trump should send [the National Guard] in,” said Aaron, who declined to give his last name.

“Look, I was born in Nicaragua. I came here when I was 12,” Aaron added.

“I know what a dictator is. This is not a dictator,” he said, motioning to the grandstand from where Trump watched the parade.

‘Protesting is patriotic’

For Anahi Rivas-Rodriguez, a 24-year-old from McAllen, Texas, the military pageantry underscored a more troubling turn, which she said included Trump’s hardline immigration policies melding with the country’s military might.

“I have a lot of people in my life who are scared. We do not belong in a fear in America,” said Rivas-Rodriguez, who joined a group of protesters marching in front of the White House.

“I do not stand by an America that tears families apart and targets people because they look brown and they look Mexican,” she said, her eyes welling up, “because they look like me”.

Trump earlier this week described the protesters as “people who hate the country”, adding that those who came out on Saturday would be “met with very big force”.

Rivas-Rodriguez bristled.

“Protesting is patriotic, and I am here for my country because I care about America,” she said. “Maybe I’m a little intimidated [by Trump], but I am not scared because I am still here.”

About 60 arrests were made in a protest at the US Capitol late on Friday, but no major incidents were reported in the US capital on Saturday, with many groups choosing to hold protests elsewhere.

The organisers of the national “No Kings” protests held no official event in DC, despite hosting demonstrations in about 2,000 cities across the country.

In a statement, the group said they did so to avoid “allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity”.

Still, Roland Roebuck, a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran from Puerto Rico, said he wanted to attend the parade in protest to send a message.

“Trump has been allergic to military service and deeply disrespectful of the military,” he said, pointing to Trump’s medical exemption from serving in Vietnam due to “bone spurs”, in what critics have said amounted to draft dodging.

Roebuck said the parade, with a price tag of between $25m and $45m, rings tone deaf at a time when Trump has been rolling back federal services, including those that affect veterans.

He also accused Trump of “erasing” the contributions of Black soldiers like himself through his administration’s anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) campaign at the Pentagon.

“Many of the people that are here are very confused with respect to what this parade represents,” Roebuck said.

“This represents a farce.”

ATTACHMENT FORTY ONE – FROM DW

US: TRUMP THANKS ARMY AT MILITARY PARADE IN WASHINGTON

By Timothy Jones | Kate Hairsine | Karl Sexton | Matt Ford with AP, Reuters, AFP Published 06/14/2025

A rare military parade marking the US Army's 250th anniversary, as well as President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, was overshadowed by events at home and on the world stage.

https://p.dw.com/p/4vuO9

What you need to know

· Trump frames event as celebration of the US Army's military successes

· First major military parade to take place in Washington D since 1991

· Event coincided with "No Kings" protests held across the country by progressive organizations

This blog, following DW's live coverage of the military parade in Washington DC and the protests across the US on June 14, 2025, has now closed.

Thank you for reading

We're closing this blog on the news about the military parade in Washington, which appeared to be overshadowed by events including a politically motivated killing of a lawmaker, as well as protests against Trump's immigration policies.

ATTACHMENT FORTY TWO – FROM FRANCE 24

TRUMP FLEXES MILITARY MIGHT AT PARADE AS PROTESTS SWEEP US

Issued on: 14/06/2025 - 09:07 Modified: 15/06/2025 - 11:22

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump hosted the largest US military parade in decades on his 79th birthday as protesters rallied across the country to accuse him of acting like a dictator.

Trump hailed the United States as the "hottest country in the world" after watching tanks, aircraft and troops file past him in Washington on Saturday to honor the 250th anniversary of the US army.

It formed a stark split screen with turmoil at home and abroad, as police used teargas to disperse protesters in Los Angeles and US ally Israel traded missile fire with Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Trump's parade on an overcast night in Washington came after hundreds of thousands of "No Kings" demonstrators thronged the streets in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta.

The Republican largely avoided his usual domestic political diatribes in an unusually brief speech and instead focused on praising the US army, saying that they "fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win."

The display of military might comes as Trump asserts his power domestically and on the international stage.

Trump used his parade address to send a warning to Washington's adversaries of "total and complete" defeat, with the United States increasingly at risk of entanglement in Israel's conflict with Iran.

"Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you," Trump said.

'Happy Birthday'

Trump had openly dreamed since his first term as president of having a grand military parade of the type more often seen in Moscow or Pyongyang.

The last such parade in the United States was at the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

Trump stood and saluted on a stage outside the White House as tanks rumbled past, aircraft roared overhead and nearly 7,000 troops marched by.

Troops and military hardware from different eras passed by, with an announcer reeling off US victories in battles with Japanese, German, Chinese and Vietnamese forces in past wars.

The army said the parade cost up to $45 million.

The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" and there were occasional chants of "USA! USA!" but the atmosphere was less intense than one of the barnstorming rallies that swept Trump to power.

The White House said that "over 250,000 patriots showed up" for the event, without providing evidence. Communications Director Steven Cheung described the "No Kings" protests as a "complete and utter failure."

"No Kings" organizers said protesters gathered in hundreds of places, with AFP journalists seeing large crowds in several cities.

Organizers said they were protesting against Trump's dictatorial overreach, particularly what they described as the strongman symbolism of the parade.

"I think people are mad as hell," Lindsay Ross, a 28-year-old musician, told AFP in New York, where tens of thousands of people rallied.

Some protesters targeted Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, while a small group even gathered in Paris.

'Display of authoritarianism'

"I think it's disgusting," protester Sarah Hargrave, 42, said in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, describing Trump's parade as a "display of authoritarianism."

Thousands turned out in Los Angeles to protest against Trump's deployment of troops in the country's second-largest city following clashes sparked by immigration raids.

"He's trying to bully Los Angeles into complying with everything that he's trying to do, and we're not going to do that. We're a city of immigrants," a protester who gave his name as Armando told AFP.

After a day of largely peaceful protests, police unexpectedly began moving people away from the LA protest area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.

Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew.

Police officials said a "small group of agitators" had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to deploy tear gas and order the crowd to disperse.

Violence shattered the calm elsewhere, with a shooting at a "No Kings" demonstration in the western US city of Salt Lake City.

At least one person was critically injured and three people were taken into custody, police said.

The killing of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in the northern state of Minnesota on Saturday, in what the governor called a targeted attack, also cast a pall over the parade.

Trump was quick to condemn the attacks outside Minneapolis in which former state speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, while another state lawmaker and his wife were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

ATTACHMENT FORTY THREE – FROM NEWSWEEK

PUTIN CALLS TRUMP TO WISH HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DISCUSS IRAN

By Hollie Silverman Published Jun 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM EDT Updated Jun 14, 2025 at 6:11 PM EDT

Amid his 79th birthday celebration, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he took a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well," Trump wrote on Saturday afternoon. "We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. He is doing the planned prisoner swaps - large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides. The call lasted approximately 1 hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end."

White House officials also confirmed that the discussion, which lasted around 50 minutes, covered the Iran-Israel confrontation and regional security, alongside updates on the Ukraine peace process.

Why It Matters

The phone call between Trump and Putin came at a time of mounting instability in the Middle East and Ukraine, two regions closely tied to U.S. security interests. High-level communication between the U.S. and Russia carries weight for American diplomatic and security policy, given Moscow's influence in Iran and its direct involvement in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

With U.S. and global markets sensitive to developments involving Iran and Israel, and the ongoing war in Ukraine that began in February 2022 affecting European security, the call signaled attempts by Washington and Moscow to navigate and possibly influence these crises. How these leaders engage could affect American diplomacy and prospects for de-escalation in multiple flashpoints.

What To Know

The call comes as Trump celebrated his 79th birthday, and hours before the president was set to attend the military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary.

Meanwhile, thousands of "No Kings" demonstrations around the country took place Saturday in protest of Trump's policies.

It also comes following two days of intense military operations between Israel and Iran that saw at least 78 people killed and more than 320 injured in Iran by Israeli forces. Meanwhile, three people were killed and around 200 were wounded in Israel by Iranian forces.

Israel's operation, dubbed "Rising Lion," marked an unprecedented escalation in its efforts to derail Iran's nuclear program. The campaign included attacks on multiple nuclear and military sites across the country, including heavily fortified targets in Tehran and western provinces.

· US 'Assisting' Israel in Shooting Down Iran Missiles Amid Attack: Source

· Israel's Attack on Iran Sends Oil Prices Soaring in Boost for Putin

· Iran Prepares 'Decisive Response' to Massive Israeli Attack

· Houthis Say '1000 Leaders' in Store Amid Israel Assassination Strike Report

Among those killed are Iranian Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as well as several nuclear scientists.

Israel's sudden large-scale campaign prompted Iran to cancel a sixth round of nuclear talks set to be held Sunday in Oman as announced by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday. The Omani Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday that the negotiations would not be held.

The development came despite Trump urging Iran to double down on efforts to secure a nuclear agreement or face further action from Israel. He had previously urged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu not to pursue military action against Iran while the talks were ongoing but issued statements following the strikes indicating that he supported the operation after a 60-day deadline he earlier issued had passed without a deal.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, confirmed Saturday's call, with Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov stating that "the dangerous escalation of the situation in the Middle East was naturally at the center of the exchange of opinions," CBS News reported.

According to CBS News, Ushakov said Putin provided an update on peace negotiations and prisoner swaps between Russian and Ukrainian delegations that took place in Istanbul.

Ushakov said that recent exchanges included seriously wounded individuals and prisoners under the age of 25, and both leaders reiterated support for continuing negotiations.

The White House and Kremlin confirmed to CBS News that Trump and Putin last spoke on June 4, discussing, among other topics, Ukraine's drone strike on Russian air bases and Russian responses to escalating hostilities. Prior to June 4, their last known call was in May, lasting two hours.

The Saturday call comes amid ongoing concerns in Washington over Russian mediation efforts in the Iran-Israel conflict and Moscow's stated intent to be involved in diplomatic resolutions to both crises.

What People Are Saying

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, told journalists following the call, according to CBS News: "Vladimir Putin, having condemned the military operation against Iran, expressed serious concern about the possible escalation of the conflict."

What Happens Next?

Trump indicated that he and Putin will revisit the issue of Ukraine in further detail during anticipated conversations next week.

The White House and the Kremlin signaled that efforts to facilitate negotiations in Ukraine and mediation in the Iran-Israel conflict would continue in the coming days as officials monitor developments.

ATTACHMENT FORTY FOUR – FROM WASHINGTON TIMES

TRUMP WISHES HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ‘RADICAL LEFT DEGENERATES’

By Mallory Wilson - The Washington Times - Sunday, June 16, 2024

Former President Donald Trump said the “radical left” is pushing the United States into becoming a third-world country in his Father’s Day social media post.

“Happy Father’s Day to all, including the radical left degenerates that are rapidly bringing the United States of America into third world nation status with their many attempts at trying to influence our sacred court system into breaking to their very sick and dangerous will,” the Truth Social post said in screaming, all-capital letters.

“We need strength and loyalty to our country, and its wonderful constitution,” he said. “Everything will be on full display come Nov. 5, 2024 — the most important day in the history of our country. Make America great again!!!”

The former president was found guilty late last month of 34 felony counts in New York for falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

It was the first of his four criminal cases to go to court. He still faces two cases relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — one in Washington and another in Georgia. He also faces charges over the handling of classified documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

He has repeatedly railed against President Biden and the Democrats, saying they are behind the indictments and calling the cases election interference.

The presumptive Republican nominee has a history of using holiday social media posts to attack those he thinks have wronged him.

· Trump says he’s no king despite protesters contending he is

· California’s failures on homelessness, drugs and crime show it’s time for real change

Last year’s Mother’s Day post, for example, celebrated the “Mothers, Wives and Lovers of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, and Communists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great Country.”

He also has used recent Christmas and Memorial Day posts for this purpose, writing in one post about his political rivals, “may they rot in hell. Again, Merry Christmas!”

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

PEANUT GALLERY

WangAnShih

Duh! I forgot. Trump boasted of being in much better shape “cognitively” than Joe Biden on Saturday night, accusing his Democratic opponent of a series of blunders—even as he made a glaring one of his own. After first repeating the debunked claim that Biden confused Idaho and Iowa, and claiming the president had also mistaken Florida for Iowa, Trump once again called for Biden to undergo cognitive testing. Claiming Biden “doesn’t even know what the word inflation means,” he said, “I think he should take a cognitive test like I did. I took a cognitive test, and I aced it.” He then went on to repeat his now infamous story about how he “got every question right” for the crowd at a conservative conference in Detroit, bragging about how the former White House doctor administering the test had “never seen” such an impressive result before. But with that same doctor sitting in the audience, Trump proceeded to butcher his name—twice. “Doc Ronny! Doc Ronny Johnson! Does everyone know Ronny Johnson? Congressman from Texas,” he excitedly declared. He was referring, of course, to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), the former physician and Republican ally who has repeatedly talked up Trump’s “incredible genes.” Hey Donnie! Learning new languages, picking up a musical instrument, taking art or cooking classes, doing puzzles, playing board games—all these things promote the growth of new brain cells and help the brain forge new pathways.

JerzyMichael

The radical left has no definition for what a father is.

ATTACHMENT FORTY FIVE – FROM TIME

THE SURPRISINGLY RADICAL HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY

By Augustine Sedgewick

Father’s Day can sometimes seem like an afterthought in the late-spring holiday lineup: third place behind Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, a mere warm-up barbecue before the Fourth of July. But the occasion wasn’t invented merely to sell greeting cards, coffee mugs, and last-minute neckties. On the contrary, when Father’s Day became a national holiday in 1972, it was intended—though, badly—to address the most contentious and persistent issues in American history and politics. Its origins lie in the social movements of the 1960s, in stunted efforts to fight deep inequalities of race and class, and in a previous generation’s attempt to solve a perceived crisis of masculinity and fatherhood through ambitious, though ultimately unrealized policies to support families.

This story starts in the fall of 1964, when a middle-aged father and mid-level federal appointee named Daniel Patrick Moynihan hit on what he believed to be the solution to America’s racial conflict in his sleep. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act in July, many of the bill’s champions, including Martin Luther King Jr., argued that new laws weren’t enough to end centuries of discrimination. Something more substantive was needed. That November, Moynihan, then an ambitious Assistant Security in the Labor Department with three young children of his own, woke up at 4 a.m. certain that the key to avoiding more racial unrest, and even revolution, was to help Black fathers stay with their families.

Moynihan spent much of the next year working on a study, published in the spring of 1965 under the title The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Initially confidential and anonymous, the document quickly became indelibly identified with its author: The Moynihan Report.

In the six decades since its publication, the Moynihan Report has come to symbolize how assumptions of racial difference have skewed even liberal policies aiming for social equality. Fair as these charges are, Moynihan’s initial thinking was as much about biased views on masculinity and Freudian psychology as it was about race, and it was shaped by his own experiences with fatherhood.

Born in 1927, Moynihan had grown up in New York City during the Depression, the eldest child of a struggling Irish-American family. When Moynihan was 10, his father, an alcoholic, abandoned them to move to California. Moynihan, his siblings, and his mother were left to scramble for food, work, and shelter. Sometimes they stayed in an apartment for only a month before moving on.

Read More: What It Means to Be a ‘Good’ Father in America Has Changed. Here’s How

They had few other options. Around the turn of the 20^th century, fearing that immigrant children were overwhelming American cities, many local and state governments started requiring paternal child support. Yet enforcement was impossible, for there was no way to track down absent and delinquent fathers. Public benefits were reserved primarily for the families of veterans, and private charity went almost exclusively to widows, for even do-gooders were loath to let absent fathers off the hook by helping their children.

While shining shoes and selling papers to help his mother and siblings, Moynihan graduated from his East Harlem high school at 16. In 1944, the Navy sent him to college, and it was then that he started graduate work on the international labor movement, which led in 1950 to a Fulbright fellowship at the London School of Economics. For Moynihan, succeeding in England meant finding “a wife and a job—simple enough.” To help, he started psychoanalysis.

These private sessions are recorded in Moynihan’s London journals, housed today at the Library of Congress. The journals contain graphic accounts of the inner turmoil around sexuality and fatherhood that Moynihan hoped to resolve through analysis, leading to marriage, family, and a successful career.

In sessions, Moynihan dug up old memories of his father, all of them good. Quickly, his analyst concluded that Moynihan wanted to love his father despite his abandonment; he was grateful to his mother but feared her anger. Female authority had become entangled with the pain of his father’s absence. Between appointments, Moynihan was “literally overwhelmed by simple tender childish emotions” when he saw fathers and children together. When Moynihan had a month left in London, he dreamed that he woke up sobbing because he wanted his father to come back. His analyst said this was the breakthrough. Moynihan had faced his father and was finally ready to honor him.

Soon after Moynihan got back to the United States in 1954, he married Elizabeth, who would be his partner in and out of politics for the rest of his life. They named their youngest John, after Moynihan’s still absent and estranged father. Through friendly connections, Moynihan got a post in Kennedy’s Labor Department.

In Washington, Moynihan cast himself as an expert on and advocate for boys and men. Following his dreamlike revelation in November 1964, Moynihan got the go-ahead to look into helping Black fathers and families specifically. He reached out to Kenneth Clark, a distinguished Black psychologist and professor. Through Clark, Moynihan began to see, as his now-infamous phrase put it, a “tangle of pathology” ensnaring Black families—a complex set of social disadvantages that perpetuated racial inequality.

Moynihan saw divorce and illegitimacy increasing in the United States, but not equally everywhere. “Fatherless nonwhite families,” he noted, were strikingly up. Most Black children lived at some point with only one parent at home. Most also received federal welfare, which was only available if one parent was absent or incapacitated. Merging these statistics together, Moynihan concluded that a disproportionate number of Black fathers were not living at home with their children.

Why were some Black men not living with their children? Moynihan’s answer had two parts. First was the history of slavery. Scholar Stanley Elkins, comparing American slavery to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, argued that enslavement had forced Black men into “infantile regression,” because they were treated as “boys” and denied the “honorific attributes of fatherhood.” For Moynihan, restoring the “viability” of the Black family meant reversing the legacy of slavery by boosting Black men.

The second, compounding problem, according to Moynihan, was the welfare system—begun to aid families of dead and injured veterans, it unintentionally encouraged men to leave. Moynihan concluded that the result of these conjoined histories was a Black culture of matriarchy that, he thought, had negative consequences for the children who grew up in it, especially given the “dominant” culture of patriarchal masculinity.

In June 1965, Johnson incorporated Moynihan’s ideas into a well-received speech at Howard University. But quickly, the political ground shifted. Johnson committed more resources to Vietnam, straining the budget. Then Moynihan’s full report, still anonymous, was leaked to the press. On August 9, Newsweek identified him as the author. Two days later, the violent arrest of a Black driver by a white police officer developed into a widespread protest centered in Watts, a Black neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Moynihan was hailed as a prophet who had foretold the summer’s violence by some, and condemned as a racist and misogynist who was only “blaming the victim,” especially Black women, by others. As scholar Angela Davis pointed out, the Black single mothers of America did not constitute a matriarchy in any sense that implied a preponderance of social power.

Moynihan’s defense was a simplified, even naive version of his own family story. “I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen,” he told the New York Times in December 1965. “I know what this life is like.” Among other blind spots, he seemed not to have considered that his college scholarship, fellowship in England, and friendly connections within the Kennedy administration might be opportunities that would have been near impossible for a person of color to receive. In 1966, feeling like an outcast from power in Washington, Moynihan took a position at Harvard, where he would lead a center for urban studies.

That June, the Johnson administration finally did something for fathers, as Moynihan had proposed. In the preceding years, the President had used his legislative savvy to shepherd civil rights and voting rights into law. Now Congress gave official recognition to what had long been an informal tradition, a distant afterthought to the widely observed Mother’s Day. “In the homes of our Nation, we look to the fathers to provide the strength and stability which characterize the successful family,” Johnson announced, Moynihan’s phrases still echoing. By special resolution, Father’s Day would be officially celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

In 1969, Moynihan took a leave from his post at Harvard and went back to work on family policy and welfare reform in the Nixon administration. He succeeded in convincing Nixon that a guaranteed basic income would help encourage fathers to remain with their families. Nixon was in favor, but the proposal was cut down in Congress as an undeserved handout. With Moynihan’s most ambitious proposals to support men and families scuttled again, Nixon, too, was left only with symbolic gestures and formalities. In 1972, he went one step further than Johnson and declared Father’s Day a permanent national holiday. [x]

But of course, Father’s Day hardly resolved the problems it was meant to address. Today, we face renewed questions about masculinity, fatherhood, and family. Men are in trouble. Parents need help. This Sunday, we might take the opportunity to revisit the origins of the holiday and think again about other ways to help all men and families thrive. At the core of Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s agenda was the belief that easing economic burdens would create more room for families to grow together. Even the most thoughtful gifts, cards, and flowers aren’t enough to feed and educate a family, to pay for childcare, healthcare, and housing, plus maybe a dinner out and the occasional vacation. Perhaps instead, the time has come for policies that will reduce the financial pressures that all families face but weigh disproportionately on those who can least afford to bear them. The world’s greatest dad, and mom, deserve it.

ATTACHMENT FORTY SIX – FROM FOX 5 (WASHINGTON DC)

TRUMP FAMILY AT MILITARY PARADE: A LOOK AT HIS KIDS, GRANDCHILDREN & MORE

By Elissa Salamy Published  June 14, 2025 6:12pm EDT

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will give remarks at a military parade to honor the Army’s 250th anniversary – coinciding with his 79th birthday. 

Here's a look at the Trump family. 

Trump’s wife, Melania Trump

Melania Trump, 54, is Trump’s third and current wife. She’s a former model from Yugoslavia, and the second foreign-born first lady of the United States (the first was Louisa Adams.) 

They married in 2005, and Melania became a naturalized citizen in 2006. 

Melania released a self-titled memoir late last year and will be the subject of a documentary distributed by Amazon Prime Video that is expected to be released later this year.

Trump's father-in-law, Victor Knavs

Victor Knavs, 80, is Melania Trump's father. At Trump's inauguration parade at Capital One Arena Monday evening, he was seated next to Barron Trump, Trump's youngest child and Knavs' grandson. 

Melania Trump's parents, Victor and Amalija Knavs, are from a small town in Slovenia. They relocated permanently to the U.S. following Melania's marriage to Donald Trump and became citizens in 2018. Viktor was a chauffeur and car salesmen and Amalija worked as a patternmaker. 

Amalija died in January 2024 at the age of 78. 

Trump’s previous wives

Ivana Marie Trump was Trump’s first wife, from 1977 to 1990. She was a fashion model and businesswoman from Czechoslovakia, and became a citizen in 1988. She died in 2022 at the age of 73, and was buried at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey. Together, they had Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump. 

Marla Maples and Donald Trump were married from 1993 to 1999. She was an actress and model. Together, they had Tiffany Trump. 

Who are Trump’s kids?

Donald Jr. is Trump’s oldest son. Don Jr. campaigned for his father in 2016 and 2020. 

His influence has grown to the point that he lobbied his father to choose close friend JD Vance for vice president. He also pushed for former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect’s picks for director of national intelligence and health and human services, respectively. Trump Jr. helps run the family real estate business and is an honorary chairman of Trump’s transition. He has a podcast and has said his role is to prevent "bad actors" from getting into the administration. 

Don Jr. has five children — or "smurfs," as he sometimes refers to them — with his former wife, Vanessa Trump. They are Kai Madison, 18; Donald John III, 16; Tristan Milos, 13; Spencer Frederick, 12; and Chloe Sophia Trump, 11.

Ivanka Trump worked in the White House as a senior adviser during Trump’s first term. She was on the campaign trail in 2020, too, but she and her family moved to Florida and retreated from the spotlight after his loss.

As Trump geared up for the 2024 run, Ivanka announced that she loved and supported him but was getting out of politics to focus on her husband and their three kids. She did, however, join her father and other family members on election night and when he rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange in early December after Time magazine named him Person of the Year. She told "The Skinny Confidential" podcast that this time around she just wanted to "show up for him as a daughter" and be there to watch a movie or a sports game.

Ivanka and her husband have three children: Arabella Rose, 13; Joseph Frederick, 11; and Theodore James Kushner, 9.

Jared Kushner, Ivanka's husband, was a key figure in  Trump’s 2016 campaign. He joined his wife in the White House as a senior adviser, a role that included working on U.S. policy toward Israel and the broader Middle East. 

Eric Trump participated in his father’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020, but now focuses more on running the family business. In September, he and his brother started a crypto platform called World Liberty Financial, and their father helped launch it in an interview on the X social media platform."

Eric and his wife, Lara, have two children: Eric Luke, 7, and Carolina Dorothy Trump, 5.

Tiffany Trump is Trump’s sole child with second wife Marla Maples. She kept a low profile when Trump was first elected, and while was more present in the 2024 campaign, she still largely avoids the spotlight. 

Barron Trump is currently a freshman New York University business student. He graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida on May 17, 2024. Barron towers over his parents at a reported 6'9". 

His mother had told "Fox & Friends" last year that "I’m very proud of him, about his knowledge, even about politics and giving an advice to his father. He brought in so many young people. He knows his generation."

Who are Trump’s grandchildren?

Trump has 10 grandchildren:

· Kai Madison Trump, 18

· Donald John Trump III, 16

· Tristan Milos Trump, 13

· Spencer Frederick Trump, 12

· Chloe Sophia Trump, 10

· Arabella Rose Kushner, 13

· Joseph Frederick Kushner, 11

· Theodore James Kushner, 9

· Eric "Luke" Trump, 7

· Carolina Dorothy Trump, 5

Kai Trump, Trump’s oldest grandchild, is an aspiring social media influencer. Her behind-the-scenes video from election night garnered 3.7 million views on YouTube. Other posts related to her grandfather have been watched millions more times on TikTok. Kai delivered her first public speech at the Republican convention and is an avid golfer who sometimes plays with her grandfather.

"If I’m not on his team, he’ll try to get inside of my head, and he’s always surprised that I don’t let him get to me," she said at the convention. "But I have to remind him, I’m a Trump, too."

Does Donald Trump have a brother? 

Trump is one of five siblings. He had two brothers, Fred Trump Jr and Robert Trump, and two sisters, Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth Trump Grau. His only surviving sibling is Elizabeth. She is retired and lives in Florida. 

While downplaying Boelter’s quixotic “pro-life” crusade, defenders of the Empire

X54

ATTACHMENT FORTY SEVEN – FROM TIME

‘THEY JUST WALKED AWAY’: NEW POLL SHOWS HOW BADLY DEMOCRATS ARE LOSING CHRISTIAN VOTERS OF ALL STRIPES

BY PHILIP ELLIOTT

For years, Doug Pagitt has been sounding the alarm to fellow Democrats about a perceived hostility toward voters of faith within the party, flagging a fetishing of secularism that is reshaping the electoral map to their detriment. Now, he’s sending around the receipts to prove his point.

Pagitt is a progressive pastor and the executive director of Vote Common Good, which focuses on mobilizing voters of faith. Recently, he commissioned one of the largest polls of Christian voters ever to quantify the mood of the nation’s largest voting bloc. (Change Research, which counts major labor unions as clients and veterans of both Bill and Hillary Clinton as top hands, crunched the numbers last month. It runs with a standard margin of error of under 3 percentage points.) The results from more than 1,700 self-identified Christians—including Catholics and Mormons—offer plenty of reasons for Democrats still digging out from last year’s electoral thumping to question some of their foundational assumptions about the voters they are struggling to win over.

A shocking 75% of these Christian voters say that they have little or no trust in the Democratic Party, according to the data shared first with TIME. (By contrast, Republicans just about break even on that question.) A stunning 70% of these voters have little to no confidence in the federal government. And 61% of these voters think life in America is harder today for people of faith than it was 10 years ago.

Taken as a whole, this dataset on 60 specific questions should set off flares for Democrats, who lost this group by a two-to-one margin in last year’s presidential contest.

“You can’t be the majority party if you ignore the majority faith in this country,” Pagitt tells me. “We know there’s this tension in the party.”

Democrats have long struggled to make a space for faith within the party, or overcome a sense—especially in the consultant class and very-online activist set—that any embrace of religion is a threat to the party’s brand of inclusivity. For millions of voters who hold their faith as a core piece of identity, this has created a political stumbling block.

“Republicans have made a concerted effort,” Pagitt says. “Democrats have done everything they can never to name that identity. They have a built-in bias against these identities in the Democratic Party.”

Read more: Inside the Democrats’ Reboot

The polls are definitely trending away from Democrats on this question. In 2016, a full 75% of voters fell into the broad definition of Christian voters, according to exit polls. Trump carried the 27% of voters who identified as Protestants by a 59-36 margin and won the 23% of Catholic voters by a 50-46 split, while winning the 24% who called themselves “Other Christian” by a 54-43 margin. In 2020, these voters accounted for 68% of the electorate, with Joe Biden—the nation’s second-ever Catholic President—winning Catholics by a 52-47 split. Among other Christians, though, Donald Trump dominated with a 60-39 division, according to exit polls.

And last year, with Christians accounting for 64% of the electorate Trump dominated Kamala Harris: he carried the 21% of the electorate that identifies as Catholics by a 59-39 margin, and the 43% of the electorate that identifies as generically Christian by a 63-36 margin, according to exit polls.

To put all that in context, recall that Black voters are the most reliable members of the Democratic coalition and the Black Church is the only reason these numbers aren’t even worse.

While it is clear that the share of the electorate formally aligning with organized faith is shrinking, Pagitt smartly notes that membership with a local house of worship is not a prerequisite to being counted as a voter of faith. For a lot of Americans who have perhaps cut ties with local churches, that piece of their identity remains surprisingly durable. It’s why the imprint of faith traditions last longer than any church directory.

Grievance is certainly part of this puzzle. Pagitt’s survey finds a full 50% of Christians say religion is losing influence in American life. And 60% of these Christian voters say they reliably back Republicans; 62% say they would never consider voting for a Democrat.

Both the Democratic Party and its voters are seen as unfriendly toward Christianity. In Pagitt’s survey, 58% of Christians see the Democratic Party as hostile to Christianity and 54% see the same traits among Democratic voters. By contrast, the same voters say the Republican Party is friendly to the tune of 70% and say the same about GOP voters at the rate of 72%.

Pagitt is clear-eyed about what is possible given how much partisanship is baked into all this and how tough it is for brands to reboot. He’s been working with candidates since Vote Common Good launched in 2018 to help progressive efforts connect with faith traditions and constantly has to face reluctance to tell their personal stories.

But in training sessions regardless of locality, Pagitt boils down his message on faith outreach to six very simple words: “I like you” and “we need you.” Once that respect is signaled to voters of faith, Pagitt says, a conversation on substance is a whole lot easier. Still, it’s not like Democrats are going to turn around trends in this super-majority voting bloc easily.

“They squandered it,” Pagitt says of the Democrats. “They just walked away.”

In turn, so too did Christian votes walk away from Democrats.

ATTACHMENT FORTY EIGHT – FROM BBC

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT SET TO DOMINATE G7 SUMMIT

By James Landale

Donald Trump greets Mark Carney in May 2025.

This week's G7 summit in Canada will be dominated by war - only not one of those that the world leaders had expected.

High on the agenda had been Russia's war against Ukraine and Donald Trump's tariff war against America's trading partners.

Instead the three-day gathering in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta will inevitably be focused on war in the Middle East.

Israel's decision to attack Iran will force the Group of Seven western powers to spend less time on other issues and instead discuss ways of managing the conflict.

Like so many of their discussions, that will involve Britain, France, Germany and Italy - along with Canada and Japan - seeking to influence the United States.

For although Israel might have launched these strikes without explicit American support, the US president is the only leader with real leverage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

· Follow latest on Israel-Iran attacks

· What are the worst-case scenarios?

The G7 leaders, due to arrive in Canada on Sunday, know the global security and economic risks if this conflict escalates, dragging in other countries, sending oil prices soaring.

Yet they may struggle to achieve a common position. Some, such as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France, have called for restraint and de-escalation.

But others such as Japan's Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, have condemned Israel's attack as "intolerable" and "extremely regrettable". For his part, Mr Trump praised Israel's strikes as "excellent".

Hiding the divisions

All this is a long way from what Mark Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister, had planned for the talks in the wilderness retreat of Kananaskis. He wanted a summit to mark the G7's 50th birthday that avoided rows with Mr Trump.

Much of his agenda was non-controversial, about energy security, protecting mineral supply chains, accelerating the digital transition and tackling forest fires.

There was little mention of issues such as climate change, on which Mr Trump is a sceptic. Canadian officials even decided not to have a summit communique to avoid textual disputes dominating the gathering.

Instead, world leaders will agree a number of "short, action-oriented statements" that maintain consensus and ignore divisive issues.

· Starmer heads to Canada for G7

Canadians well remember the last time they hosted a G7 gathering in 2018 when there was a row over - yes - Donald Trump's trade tariffs. The president stormed out early and, on the plane home, withdrew his support for the summit communique after watching Justin Trudeau, the then Canadian Prime Minister, give a press conference Mr Trump described as "very dishonest and weak".

This summit Mr Carney may arrange a visit to Kananaskis golf club to try to keep Mr Trump onside.

In Charlevoix in 2018, it was a discordant G7 hosted by Canada and Trump left early

An awkward family gathering

Beneath this caution lingers a fundamental question about whether these annual gatherings are still worth it, given Mr Trump's clear disdain. He prefers bilateral dealmaking to multilateral consensus-building.

This is the president's first such foray onto the world stage since his inauguration and his six partners will be looking anxiously to see whether he wants to pick a fight - or look statesmanlike - for voters back home.

Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "The question now is not so much 'is this an awkward family gathering?' That's almost a given. I think the question is: 'is this still a family?'"

In one respect, the dramatis personae in Kananaskis helps. There are several new faces around the table - Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Merz of Germany, Mr Ishiba and Mr Carney himself. The more veteran G7 leaders - President Macron and Prime Minister Meloni of Italy - get on well with the US president.

Other leaders also attending the summit, from Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, are not expected to pick a fight.

Tackling Trump over tariffs

The most obvious test of the G7's existential tensions will be Mr Trump's trade war.

This club of some of the world's richest industrial nations was set up in the 1970s to discuss global economic crises. And yet now the G7 finds itself dealing with damaging tariffs imposed by one of its members.

The argument world leaders will make to Mr Trump is that if he wants them to help him counter longer-term threats, economic or otherwise, from China, then it makes little sense for him to punish his allies. They will want to make explicit that there is a trade-off between putting America First and taking on Beijing.

Josh Lipsky, senior director, Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center, said: "If the question is how we coordinate on China, how we coordinate on technology, how we coordinate on Russia and Ukraine - how can we have this kind of alliance between advanced-economy democracies if we're also creating economic hardship on our countries by something that's coming from another member?"

Pressing Russia over Ukraine

Key to that debate will be Ukraine. President Zelensky will join the discussions on Tuesday. His aim, along with other leaders, will be to assess the current state of President Trump's thinking towards Russia.

Ukraine's allies want to put more pressure on President Putin to come to the negotiating table. To do that, they want to hit his economy harder.

First, they want to reduce the price much of the world pays for Russian oil.

They already agreed in December 2022 to cap the price of Russian crude oil at $60 a barrel, making that a condition of access to western ports and shipping insurance and port. But this has been rendered less effective by falling energy prices.

The European Commission wants a cap at $45. Ukraine wants it even lower, at $30. What is not clear is where Mr Trump's thinking is on this. Already some officials say allies may have to lower the cap without US support.

Second, Ukraine's western allies also want a tough new package of economic sanctions.

The European Commission has already proposed a fresh round of penalties aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, banks and military industry.

US senators, led by Lindsay Graham, are also pushing tough new sanctions that would impose steep tariffs on countries that buy cheap Russian oil, most particularly China and India.

It used to be said the G7 was a kind of "steering committee" for the free world. This week may reveal whether the club's driving days are over

While Trump’s merching bucks kept flowing inwards as he denounced those Eye-ranian fucks and exchanged strained yucks with strange Canucks,

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, fashion designer and "Project Runway" contestant was identified as protester who was shot and killed during "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City. (See More) Bad winds and tidings from the homeland wafted north like moral and mental firesmoke to besmirch the President’s nostrils and tonsils as his spin doctors spun their tales, Trumpuppies wagged their tails and haters from all over the world passed gas over his passed parade..

ATTACHMENT FORTY NINE – FROM IUK

HOW UNPOPULAR IS TRUMP? EVEN SOME PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED HIS MILITARY PARADE DON’T LIKE HIM

Monday, June 16, 2025

President Donald Trump’s decision to go forward with his military parade landed with thud.

While the Trump administration said 250,000 people watched the parade, the “No Kings” protests across the country reportedly had four million people attend, the largest mass demonstrations in the nation’s history.

The event Saturday was billed as a way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Army, though inevitably, people brought up how it came the same day as the president’s 79th birthday. Television broadcasts and The Independent flagged how few people attended the event.

The parade came as Israel and Iran escalated military strikes against each other after Israel conducted its strikes beginning on Thursday.

The next day, Trump announced that he would dispatch ICE to Democratic-run cities in blue states after he had already attempted to send in the National Guard and Marines without consent of the governor.

But even outside the parade, much of the city remained relatively muted.

Protesters walked in between the lines of attendees yelling “Save America, F*** Trump” as they filed and some heckled and yelled shame to them as they entered the premises for the military parade.

Others read from the Constitution or played Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of.”

But some of the people who attended the event did not necessarily approve of the president.

• Gustaf Kilander: Sean Duffy warns he will withhold infrastructure repair money from states that don’t help in ICE raids

• Io Dodds: US sends aircraft carrier from South China Sea to Middle East as conflict between Israel and Iran grows

Quote of the Day

“It wasn’t a drunk tweet.”

Former ABC News reporter Terry Moran about his tweet about Stephen Miller that cost him his job.

What else you need to know

• Travel warning: U.S. State Department officials on Monday updated a travel advisory for Israel, Gaza and the West Bank territory to “do not travel” as casualties mount on both sides of Israel’s escalating war with Iran, John Bowden reports.

• Phoning it in: The Trump Organization has announced a self-branded smartphone and mobile service for “real Americans” that aims to take on Apple and Samsung, Anthony Cuthbertson writes.

ATTACHMENT FIFTY – FROM THE A.P.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP PITCHES FOR G9

By  JOSH BOAK Updated 5:07 PM EDT, June 16,

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his time at the Group of Seven summit on Monday by suggesting that Russia and maybe even China should be part of the organization.

The U.S. leader indicated that he would rather have the G7 become the G8 or possibly even the G9, although Russia and China would notably be authoritarian governments in an organization whose members are democracies.

Trump asserted that it was a “very big mistake” to remove Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, a move that precipitated Russia’s wider invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The comments added more complexity regarding Trump’s interests as he is set to meet on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the brutal war started by the invasion.

“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” Trump said, referring to Justin Trudeau, who was elected Canadian prime minister the year after Russia was removed from the G8. Stephen Harper was the Canadian prime minister at the time.

“I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago,” Trump said. “They threw Russia out, which I claimed was a very big mistake, even though I wasn’t in politics then.”

Related Stories

What to know about the G7 summit

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Ukraine's Zelenskyy wins non-military backing from Austria a day before visit to G7 gathering

Trump added that Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, is “no longer at the table, so it makes life more complicated.”

Asked by a reporter if China should also be added, Trump said: “It’s not a bad idea. I don’t mind that if somebody wants to see just China coming in.”

The U.S. president said it’s important for world leaders to be able to speak with one another at summits.

“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else,” Trump said. “He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8, as I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be.”

Trump was speaking to reporters after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is hosting the summit in Kananaskis, along the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The U.S. president has levied steep tariffs against dozens of countries, and the G7 leaders are also trying to address the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. But Carney tried to flatter Trump by noting that the G7 would be rudderless without the U.S.

“The G7 is nothing without U.S. leadership,” Carney said.

ATTACHMENT FIFTY ONE – FROM FINANCIAL TIMES

UNTITLED (TRUMP BLOWS OFF G-7)

Tuesday, June 17th

With war raging in the Middle East, the vibes at the G7 went from bad to worse yesterday.

After a day of intense diplomacy in the mountain resort of Kananaskis, Alberta, Trump dipped out early when he was supposed to stay until today.

The group’s host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, was never under the illusion it would be able to project unity among the world leaders in attendance amid this new war between Israel and Iran. But the fresh conflict builds upon existing tensions over differing approaches to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The FT’s James Politi, who was at the high-level gathering, told me:

“That scepticism seemed justified at the end of the first day of the summit, with the US resisting to sign on to any joint statement on the Middle East, but then getting on board in the end. And Trump openly doubted the need for new sanctions on Moscow, which many European leaders and members of Congress are calling for.”

Upon his arrival, Trump was in no mood to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the group’s first summit. Instead, he complained about Russia’s exclusion from the group ever since it invaded Crimea in 2014, making things a bit awkward for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was supposed to meet Trump today.

On the plus side, Trump agreed with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to implement the trade pact they reached last month. He also said he held a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, raising hopes that they can avoid a burst of new transatlantic tariffs next month.

But it’s really not the unified front one might expect in the face of serious global challenges.

ATTACHMENT FIFTY TWO – FROM THE PALM BEACH POST

‘COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE:’ WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS IN ON ‘NO KINGS’ ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTS

ACLU estimates more than 5 million participated in about 2,100 'No Kings' protests nationwide — on President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.

Kinsey Crowley

· Trump did not directly address the protests, but the White House called them a "complete and utter failure" on X.

· Donald Trump turned 79 years old on Saturday, June 14 2025, which also was Flag Day and the US Army's 250th anniversary.

Approximately 2,000 communities across the country saw people gather for the "No Kings" protests against President Donald Trump on June 14.

The protests took place on Trump's 79th birthday and the day of a military parade in Washington, D.C., for the Army's 250th anniversary.

Organizers said they were demonstrating against what they see as a power grab by Trump and his administration. The protests and marches were largely peaceful, but at least one was met with violence in Virginia, where police say a man intentionally drove an SUV into a crowd.

Trump applauded his Army parade, but what did he say about the protests?

Are people protesting more than usual? 'Jaw-dropping' number planned on Trump’s birthday

Did Donald Trump post about the 'No Kings' protests?

Trump did not post about the protests on his social media site Truth Social.

But the White House did weigh in on the protests in a statement on X.

"The so-called No Kings protests have been a complete and utter failure with minuscule attendance. It is sad Democrats and liberals would rather support criminals and illegals instead of celebrating the 250th anniversary of our great U.S. Army and Flag Day," communications director Steven Cheung wrote. "But many more Americans are commemorating our brave military men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice and who those continue to serve our country."

‘No Kings' organizer estimates 5 million participants nationwide

The American Civil Liberties Union, one of the co-organizers of the protests, estimated that more than 5 million people participated in about 2,100 demonstrations across the U.S.

“(Saturday's) protests are a resounding message that people across the nation will not be intimidated by President Trump’s fear tactics. Americans are brave, democracy loving people and will not sit idly by as the Trump administration feeds our Constitution into the shredder — nor will the ACLU,” ACLU chief political and advocacy officer Deirdre Schifeling said in a press release on June 14.

In West Palm Beach, more than 1,000 people gathered at Phipps Park and marched toward the "Winter White House" at Mar-a-Lago. They were stopped by police at the end of the Southern Boulevard bridge, and they turned back to the Meyer Amphitheatre lawn for a rally.

ATTACHMENT FIFTY THREE – FROM GUK

WILL THE PUBLIC SIDE WITH THE PROTESTERS IN LA? HERE ARE SOME LESSONS FROM HISTORY

Social movements have long included some form of direct conflict with authorities. The key is whom the public blames for clashes

By Musa al-Gharbi Tue 17 Jun 2025 06.00 EDT

On 6 June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) conducted aggressive raids in Los Angeles, sweeping up gainfully employed workers with no criminal record. This led to demonstrations outside the Los Angeles federal building. During these protests, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of California, was arrested alongside more than 100 others – leading to even larger demonstrations the next day.

Donald Trump responded on 7 June by sending federal troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests without consulting Gavin Newsom, and, in fact, in defiance of the California governor’s wishes. This dramatic federal response, paired with increasingly aggressive tactics by local police, led to the protests growing larger and escalating in their intensity. They’ve begun spreading to other major cities, too.

Cue the culture war.

On the right, the response was predictable: the federal clampdown was largely praised. Hyperbolic narratives about the protests and the protesters were uncritically amplified and affirmed. On the left, the response was no less predictable. There is a constellation of academic and media personalities who breathlessly root for all protests to escalate into violent revolution while another faction claims to support all the causes in principle but somehow never encounters an actual protest movement that they outright support.

For my part, as I watched Waymo cars burning as Mexican flags fluttered behind them, I couldn’t help but be reminded of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. In the documentary Sociology Is a Martial Art, he emphasized: “I don’t think it’s a problem that young people are burning cars. I want them to be able to burn cars for a purpose.”

It is, indeed, possible for burning cars to serve a purpose. However, it matters immensely who is perceived to have lit the fuse.

· Musa al-Gharbi is a sociologist in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. His book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, is out now with Princeton University Press. He is a Guardian US columnist

ATTACHMENT FIFTY FOUR – FROM GUK

VIOLENCE IS COMING TO DEFINE AMERICAN POLITICAL LIFE

By Stephen Marche

It’s uncomfortable to talk about, but all major successful social movements realized their goals with and through direct conflict. There’s never been a case where people just held hands and sang Kumbaya, provoking those in power to nod and declare, “I never thought of it that way,” and then voluntarily make difficult concessions without any threats or coercion needed. Attempts at persuasion are typically necessary for a movement’s success, but they’re rarely sufficient. Actual or anticipated violence, destruction and chaos also have their role to play.

Civil rights leaders in the 1950s, for instance, went out of their way to provoke high-profile, violent and disproportionate responses from those who supported segregation. Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr had an intuitive understanding of what empirical social science now affirms: what matters isn’t the presence or absence of violence but, rather, who gets blamed for any escalations that occur.

The current anti-Ice protests have included clashes with police and occasional property damage. Melees, looting and destruction are perennially unpopular. Then again, so were civil rights-era bus boycotts, diner sit-ins and marches. In truth, the public rarely supports any form of social protest.

Something similar holds for elite opinion-makers. In the civil rights era, as now, many who claimed to support social justice causes also described virtually any disruptive action taken in the service of those causes as counterproductive, whether it was violent or not. As I describe in my book, civil rights leaders across the board described these “supporters” as the primary stumbling block for achieving equality.

The simple truth is that most stakeholders in society – elites and normies alike, and across ideological lines – would prefer to stick with a suboptimal status quo than to embrace disruption in the service of an uncertain future state. Due to this widespread impulse, most successful social movements are deeply unpopular until after their victory is apparent. Insofar as they notch successes, it is often in defiance of public opinion.

For instance, protests on US campuses against Israel’s campaign of destruction in Gaza were deeply unpopular. However, for all their flaws and limitations, the demonstrations, and the broader cultural discussion around the protests, did get more people paying attention to what was happening in the Middle East. And as more people looked into Israel’s disastrous campaign in Gaza, American support plummeted. Among Democrats, independents and Republicans alike, sympathy for Israelis over Palestinians is significantly lower today than before 7 October 2023. These patterns are not just evident in the US but also across western Europe and beyond.

Conflict can help shift public opinion in favor of political causes, but it can also lead to blowback against those causes

The Palestinian author Omar el-Akkad notes that when atrocities become widely recognized, everyone belatedly claims to have always been against them – even if they actively facilitated or denied the crimes while they were being carried out. Successful social movements function the opposite way: once they succeed, everyone paints themselves as having always been for them, even if the movements in question were deeply unpopular at the time.

Martin Luther King Jr, for instance, was widely vilified towards the end of his life. Today, he has a federal holiday named after him. The lesson? Contemporaneous public polls about demonstrations tell us very little about the impact they’ll ultimately have.

So, how can we predict the likely impact of social movements?

The best picture we have from empirical social science research is that conflict can help shift public opinion in favor of political causes, but it can also lead to blowback against those causes. The rule seems to be that whoever is perceived to have initiated violence loses: if the protesters are seen as sparking violence, citizens sour on the cause and support state crackdowns. If the government is seen as having provoked chaos through inept or overly aggressive action, the public grows more sympathetic to the protesters’ cause (even if they continue to hold negative opinions about the protesters and the protests themselves).

The 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles are an instructive example. They arose after King was unjustly beaten by law enforcement and the state failed to hold the perpetrators to account. In public opinion, the government was held liable for these legitimate grievances and outrage. As a result, the subsequent unrest seemed to generate further sympathy for police reform (even though most Americans frowned on the unrest itself).

Stonewall was a literal riot. However, it was also widely understood that the conflict was, itself, a response to law enforcement raids on gay bars. Gay and trans people were being aggressively surveilled and harassed by the state, and began pushing back more forcefully for respect, privacy and autonomy. The government was the perceived aggressor, and this worked to the benefit of the cause. Hence, today, the Stonewall uprising is celebrated as a pivotal moment in civil rights history despite being characterized in a uniformly negative fashion at the time.

This is not the way social movements always play out. If the protests come to be seen as being motivated primarily by animus, resentment or revenge (rather than positive or noble ideals), the public tends to grow more supportive of a crackdown against the movement. Likewise, if demonstrators seem pre-committed to violence, destruction and chaos, people who might otherwise be sympathetic to the cause tend to rapidly disassociate with the protesters and their stated objectives.

The 6 January 2021 raid on the Capitol building, for instance, led to lower levels of affiliation with the GOP. Politicians who subsequently justified the insurrection performed especially poorly in the 2022 midterms (with negative spillover effects to Republican peers).

The protests that followed George Floyd’s murder were a mixed bag: in areas where demonstrations did not spiral into chaos or violence, the protests increased support for many police reforms and, incidentally, the Democratic party. In contexts where violence, looting, crime increases and extremist claims were more prevalent – where protesters seemed more focused on condemning, punishing or razing society rather than fixing it – trends moved in the opposite direction.

Yet, although the Floyd-era protests themselves had an ambivalent effect on public support for criminal justice reform, the outcome of Trump’s clampdown on the demonstrations was unambiguous: it led to a rapid erosion in GOP support among white Americans – likely costing Trump the 2020 election. Why? Because the president came off as an aggressor.

Trump did not push for a crackdown reluctantly, after all other options were exhausted. He appeared to be hungry for conflict and eager to see the situation escalate. He seemed to relish norm violations and inflicting harm on his opponents. These perceptions were politically disastrous for him in 2020. They appear to be just as disastrous today.

Right now, the public is split on whether the ongoing demonstrations in support of immigrants’ rights are peaceful. Yet, broadly, Americans disapprove of these protests, just as they disapprove of most others. Critically, however, most also disapprove of Trump’s decisions to deploy the national guard and the marines to Los Angeles. The federal agency at the heart of these protests, Ice, is not popular either. Americans broadly reject the agency’s tactics of conducting arrests in plain clothes, stuffing people in unmarked vehicles and wearing masks to shield their identities. The public also disagrees with deporting undocumented immigrants who were brought over as children, alongside policies that separate families, or actions that deny due process.

Employers, meanwhile, have lobbied the White House to revise its policies, which seem to primarily target longstanding and gainfully employed workers rather than criminals or people free-riding on government benefits – to the detriment of core US industries.

Even before the protests began, there were signs that Americans were souring on Trump’s draconian approach to immigration, and public support has declined rapidly since the protests started on 6 June.

Whether the demonstrations ultimately lead to still more erosion of public support for Trump or continued declines in public support for immigration will likely depend less on whether the demonstrations continue to escalate than on whom the public ultimately blames for any escalation that occurs.

At present, it’s not looking good for the White House.

ATTACHMENT “A” FROM REV TRANSCRIPTS

TRUMP SPEAKS AT MILITARY PARADE

Donald Trump speaks at the military parade on the Army's 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C. Read the transcript here.

President Trump (00:11):

Thank you very much everybody, and thank you to Vice President Vance, and thank you to our wonderful First Lady, and above all, thank you to the greatest, fiercest, and bravest fighting force ever to stride the face of this earth, the United States Army. Thank you very much. Because the army keeps us free, you make us strong, and tonight you have made all Americans very proud. They're watching from all over the world, actually, made them all very proud.

(00:50)
Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did, too. That's what we're doing tonight. And watching this magnificent display, our souls are filled with gratitude for every generation of warriors who have worn the uniform, all the way back to the very beginning. So to every veteran across our land and right here in our nation's capital, including six recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, we love you, we honor you, and we salute your noble service to our flag and to our country.

(01:32)
As we celebrate tonight, we also think of the hundreds of thousands of army soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for our nation and selflessly laid down their lives in every war, from the revolution to the war on terror. To the gold star families with us today, the courage of your heroes is the bedrock on which our entire nation stands. We thank you. Yes, we thank you.

(02:02)
Today, we commemorate an event that did not just change American history, but changed the history of the entire world. With the creation of America's army on June 14th, 1775, liberty got its shield and the freedom got its sword. Those first army patriots in the American Revolution fought against a fearsome enemy and impossible odds, but they were armed with a righteous cause, they were led by an indomitable commander, a truly great man, General George Washington, and they were united by an eternal creed. Their motto is "Victory or Death".

(02:51)
Over the past two and a half centuries, our warriors have shown unrivaled valor on fields, a battle around the globe. With the frost-bitten feet and bloody fists, they have marched into the flames and fury of combat, charged up mountains, stormed beaches, waded through torrents of gunfire, and leapt into skies thick with smoke and shrapnel. The US Army has driven bayonets into the heart of sinister empires, crushed the ambitions of evil tyrants beneath the threads of American tanks. It's done so well, it's done so much, and sent the devil himself flying into full retreat.

(03:36)
Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you; your defeat will be certain, your demise will be final, and your downfall will be total and complete. Because our soldiers never give up, never surrender, and never, ever quit. They fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win. And that's why no institution in history has entered more names into the roster of American heroes than the US Army, the Congressional Medal of Honor, more than anyone or anything.

(04:27)
There was Mad Anthony Wayne asked by George Washington to lead a daring midnight raid up the cliffs of Stony Point with unloaded muskets and only their bayonets to fight the Redcoats. Mad Anthony replied, "Issue the order, sir, and I will storm into Hell for you." Then there was the Civil War General John Corse. Shot in the face in combat, he fired off a message to his commander, "I am short a cheekbone and one ear, but I am able to whip the hell out of all of them." He stayed on the front lines, it seemed, forever. In World War II, there was the great Creighton Abrams. Besieged on all sides by the Nazis at the Battle of the Bulge, he boldly proclaimed, "They've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards."

(05:31)
This is the fighting spirit and unyielding force of the US Army. It has never changed, and it will never ever change, because there is no earthly force more powerful than the brave heart of a US infantry men, or an Army Ranger, a paratrooper, or a Green Beret. They are the best. They are the finest. From Bunker Hill to San Juan Hill, from Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, from Yorktown to Shiloh, and from the trenches of the Argonne to the mountains of Afghanistan, the Army has forged a legacy of unmatched courage, untold sacrifice, and unequaled and undying glory. Our soldiers have poured out their blood by the bucketful on Missionary Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge, on the sands of Sicily, Normandy, and the Philippines, and on the dusty streets of Da Nang, Baghdad, and Fallujah. Thanks to their extraordinary service and devotion, 250 years later, America stands tall, America stands proud, and America stands free. We're the hottest country in the world right now, and our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before.

(06:57)
Down through history, we've been blessed beyond words by this valiant legion of army warriors and patriots, heroes and legends. And tonight, we affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there. No matter the risk, no matter the obstacles, our warriors will charge into battle, they will plunge into the crucible of fire, and they will seize the crown of victory, because the United States of America will always have the grace of Almighty God and the iron will of the United States Army.

(07:48)
Congratulations to everybody. We love our country. We've never done better. Thank you. God bless you. God bless the Army and God bless America. And now, I'd like to ask our great First Lady to join me at the podium. Thank you very much, everybody.

Melania Trump (08:10):

[inaudible 00:08:21].

President Trump (08:38):

Thank you.

(08:38)
Thank you.

(08:39)
[inaudible 00:08:39].

Melania Trump (08:39):

[inaudible 00:08:39].

Speaker X (08:39):

[inaudible 00:08:39].

MUSIC (08:39):

Happy birthday to you.

(08:39)
Happy birthday, dear Mr. President.

(08:39)
Happy birthday to you.

Speaker 5 (08:39):

Mr. President, on behalf of the United States Army, the Army Golden Knights, I would like to present to you this flag, which was flown over our nation's capital [inaudible 00:09:00] during the Army's 250th birthday celebration.

(09:00)
[inaudible 00:09:14].

President Trump (09:00):

Thank you.

Speaker X (09:00):

[inaudible 00:09:26].

(09:00)
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

(09:00)
Donald Trump!

(09:00)
Woo!

(09:00)
[inaudible 00:09:55].

President Trump (09:00):

[inaudible 00:10:03].

MUSIC (09:00):

I'd worked for all my life.

(09:00)
And I had to start again.

(09:00)
With just my children and my wife.

(09:00)
Thank my lucky stars.

(09:00)
To be living here today.

(09:00)
'Cause that flag still stands for freedom.

(09:00)
And they can't take that away.

(09:00)
And I'm proud to be an American.

(09:00)
Where at least I know I'm free.

(09:00)
And I won't forget the men who died.

(09:00)
Who gave that right to me.

(09:00)
And I'll gladly stand up next to you.

(09:00)
And defend her still today.

(09:00)
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land.

(09:00)
God bless the USA.

Lee Greenwood (09:00):

Happy birthday, Mr. President.

MUSIC (09:00):

From the lakes of Minnesota.

(09:00)
To the hills of Tennessee.

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Across the planes of Texas.

(09:00)
From sea to shining sea.

(09:00)
From…