US President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday celebration this Saturday doubled as a lavish military spectacle, complete with tanks rolling through Washington, D.C. and fighter jets roaring overhead. Framed as a commemoration of the Army’s 250th anniversary, the parade marked the largest display of military power in the US capital since 1991 — and served, for critics, as a troubling symbol of a presidency increasingly defined by authoritarian tactics, the Financial Times reported.
Before cheering troops at Fort Bragg earlier this week, Trump brushed aside criticism. “A lot of people say we don’t want to do that. I say yes we do,” he said, invoking his signature brand of political bravado. “We want to show off a little bit.”
The cost to taxpayers is estimated at $45 million. But the price, say legal scholars and historians, may also be measured in democratic norms eroded.
Troop deployment in California escalates tensions
The parade follows Trump’s controversial decision earlier this month to deploy 700 federal troops — including 200 US Marines — to Los Angeles. The deployment was ordered over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom and came in response to protests against Trump’s intensified deportation policies.
Trump claimed the federal presence was essential to stop “a vicious and violent mob,” but critics say the move violated long-standing legal safeguards that bar unilateral federal control of the National Guard in non-emergency situations.
“This is how autocrats operate,” warned Harold Hongju Koh, a professor at Yale Law School. “They militarize the domestic space. That’s what [Vladimir] Putin does.”
Crackdown on dissent and political optics
The aggressive show of force has been accompanied by a widening crackdown on dissent. On Thursday, Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed by federal agents from a press event led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Padilla later said the incident was part of “a much bigger effort to try and silence anyone who dares to question what the Trump administration is doing.”
Protesters, outraged by what they view as creeping authoritarianism, are staging demonstrations in D.C. and across the country on Saturday. “This is fascism,” said Sunsara Taylor, one of the organizers. “It must be opposed, non-violently but with determination.”
Historic break from domestic military restraint
Presidents have occasionally used federal troops to enforce domestic law — such as to desegregate Southern schools — but only under extraordinary circumstances. Trump’s recent actions, say scholars, fall well outside that tradition.
“Trying to keep the military out of domestic affairs is a tradition that has been upheld through generations,” said Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library. “If we lose that, it does change the character of our republic.”
Legal experts warn that Trump’s justifications — including vague references to the protection of federal property — stretch existing statutes, such as the rarely invoked Insurrection Act of 1807. Some fear the administration may use these precedents to normalize military involvement in civilian life.
Foreign policy contradiction looms
Ironically, Trump’s show of military power at home coincides with his escalating involvement in the Middle East, as Israel continues its strikes on Iran with Trump’s diplomatic and logistical backing. This undercuts his image as a non-interventionist “peacemaker,” a claim he made central to his 2024 campaign.
As tanks roll down Pennsylvania Avenue and Marines patrol the streets of Los Angeles, Trump’s critics see not just a president who wants to "show off," but one who is reshaping the balance between civilian and military authority in ways the US has historically feared and resisted.
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