Donald Trump has wanted a military parade down the streets of Washington, D.C., for many years, and this weekend, the president will get his wish. By all appearances, he’s delighted.
“We’re going to have a fantastic June 14th parade on Flag Day,” Trump told reporters on the Oval Office on Tuesday. “It’s going to be an amazing day. We have tanks. We have planes. We have all sorts of things. And I think it’s going to be great.”
Of course, the president is a highly controversial figure; his idea about having tanks roll down the streets of the nation’s capital is not universally popular; and because the Constitution’s First Amendment still exists, there’s a reasonably good chance that some of the folks who show up for Saturday’s parade will be there to express their disagreement with the display.
As NBC News reported, Trump shared some thoughts about them, too.
President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that anyone who protests at the U.S. military parade here on Saturday will be met with ‘very heavy force.’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that they’re going to be ‘celebrating big on Saturday,’ referring to the parade that will wind its way through downtown Washington, D.C.
In context, the president wasn’t asked about the possibility of protesters at the parade, but he nevertheless volunteered a threat.
“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump said. “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
Trump on his parade this weekend: “If there's any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force. For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force.”
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-06-10T16:58:40.540Z
Right off the bat, it continues to be bizarre to see Trump question the patriotism of his critics. Memories are often short in politics, but in the runup to Election Day 2024, Trump condemned the United States as, among other things, a “garbage can.” Ours is a “failing nation” and a “nation in decline,” he added. Told in October 2024 that America is a great country, the Republican said — out loud and on the record — that he disagreed.
It’s a detail to keep in mind as he tries to claim the high road on patriotism and love of country.
But even more important was the president’s willingness to publicly threaten Americans who participate in protests that haven’t yet happened. Note, Trump made no distinction between those who might peaceably assemble and those who might engage in criminal misconduct. In other words, he didn’t say rioters would face “very heavy force”; he said protesters would face “very heavy force.” The message was unsubtle: Americans who disagree with Trump should expect to be crushed if they try to exercise their rights under the First Amendment. Indeed, the message came against a backdrop of the president questioning the legitimacy and authenticity of those who oppose his agency. What’s more, there’s a larger pattern to consider. As a New York Times report noted, Trump’s former Pentagon secretary, Mark Esper, has repeatedly claimed that the president pushed to shoot protesters in the legs in 2020. Years earlier, remarking on the 1989 democratic protests in Tiananmen Square, Trump celebrated the Chinese response as a demonstration of “the power of strength.” Or put another way, when the world saw the image of a student standing in front of tanks, Trump sided with the guys driving the tanks. There was some political conversation a few years ago about the Republican Party positioning itself as “the party of free speech.” There’s a reason those who espoused such a position have grown awfully quiet lately.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
