PinnedUpdated June 14, 2025, 4:15 p.m. ETPresident Trump prepared on Saturday to make a show of American military might with a parade of tanks, missiles and aircraft through the heart of the nation’s capital. The celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States Army has already transformed into a test of wills and competing imagery, with demonstrators around the country decrying his expansion of executive power.On Saturday, central Washington was locked down, divided by a wall of tall, black crowd-control fences designed to assure that the parade, the first of its kind since American troops returned from the Gulf War in 1991, is an uninterrupted demonstration of history and American power. The event was scheduled to go on despite a forecast of thunderstorms.By design, military parades are part national celebration and part international intimidation, and Mr. Trump has wanted one in Washington since he attended a Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017. Formally, the parade celebrates the decision by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, to raise a unified, lightly armed force of colonialists after the shock of the battles with British forces at Lexington and Concord. That army, which George Washington took command of a month later, ultimately expelled the far larger, better armed colonial force.But no celebration of history takes place in a political vacuum. And protesters in large cities and small towns from Seattle to Key West were planning to demonstrate against how Mr. Trump is making use of the modern force. His decisions over the past week to federalize the National Guard and call the Marines into the streets of Los Angeles, in support of his immigration roundups, have rekindled a debate about whether he is abusing the powers of the commander in chief.Here’s what else to know:How to watch: The parade is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The New York Times is offering live analysis and video coverage. The White House hired a production company to oversee the presentation, and official livestreams will be shown on the Pentagon’s media website and the Army’s YouTube channel.History: The last major military parade in the nation’s capital was on June 8, 1991, just months after the end of Operation Desert Storm. Called the National Victory Celebration, its festivities were a celebration of American military might and technological prowess. Read more ›Security: Federal and local authorities were given mere weeks to put together a security plan for Saturday’s military parade, which has been designated a National Special Security Event. Precautions include 175 magnetometers and more than 18 miles of anti-scale fencing. Read more ›Watching the weather: The forecast for late afternoon and evening in Washington includes a high probability of lightning and thunderstorms. Mr. Trump said on Saturday morning that the parade would go ahead “rain or shine.” Read more ›Around the world: The motives for countries to host large military parades vary, but the events all tend to share a common visual vocabulary. Read more ›June 14, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ETArmy vehicles gathered in Jessup, Md., on Monday being prepared for the military parade in Washington.Credit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThis is not the image Army officials had wanted.While tanks, armored troop carriers and artillery systems pour into Washington for the Army’s 250th birthday celebration, National Guard troops from the Army’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, supplemented by active-duty Marines, have been deployed to Los Angeles, against the wishes of the governor and local officials.It is a juxtaposition that has military officials and experts concerned.Several current and former Army officials said the military parade and other festivities on Saturday — which is also President Trump’s 79th birthday — could make it appear as if the military is celebrating a crackdown on Americans.“The unfortunate coincidence of the parade and federalizing the California National Guard will feel ominous,” said Kori Schake, a former defense official in the George W. Bush administration who directs foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.Dr. Schake initially did not consider the parade much of a problem but is now concerned about “the rapid escalation by the administration” in Los Angeles.The two scenes combined “erode trust in the military at a time when the military should be a symbol of national unity,” said Max Rose, a former Democratic congressman and an Army veteran.June 14, 2025, 4:48 p.m. ETScattered clouds filled the skies over Washington just before 5 p.m. There’s a chance for thunderstorms with heavy rain and gusty winds between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., with the highest likelihood of storm activity expected during the parade and its associated events with President Trump, between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., said Brian LaSorsa, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office that covers Baltimore and Washington. “It’s more likely than not that there will be some showers around tonight,” LaSorsa said.June 14, 2025, 4:45 p.m. ETDawn Brooks, 53, from Largo, Md., came to protest the parade with her husband, John Brooks, 63. She held a large sign that read: “IT’S MY PARTY I’LL SPEND $45M IF I WANT TO.”“You can celebrate the military, but the military does not belong on the streets of an American city,” said Brooks, an IT projects manage. She added: “There is a significant portion of the American people who aren’t OK with this, and I know he’s threatened that, you know, protesters would be arrested or whatever. And we’re like, bring it on, if that’s what it takes.”Brooks confirmed via text that she and her husband had made it through security with their sign and an inflatable baby Trump tucked in a backpack.Credit...Steven Moity/The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 4:41 p.m. ETOn the corner of Constitution Avenue and 17th Street, which lies inside the Secret Service security cordon, an evangelical musical group named David’s Tent has a space large enough to seat more than 100 worshipers. According to its website, the group does not recognize same-sex marriage and denounces gay sex and cohabitation and sex before marriage as “offensive to God.” Inside its tent, members are leading a worship session with a band performing next to large American, Texan and Israeli flags.June 14, 2025, 4:29 p.m. ETIn the rear of an anti-Trump rally across from the White House, a woman began yelling pro-Trump statements and was quickly surrounded by anti-Trump protesters. The police moved in to break up the argument and the woman left, saying she was headed to the parade.Credit...Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 4:07 p.m. ETIt appears that parade spectators will be allowed only on the south side of Constitution Avenue, which will limit how many people will be able to see it. There are two layers of barriers between the people and the roadway, which would give the police more time to intervene if someone tries to jump over and disrupt the procession.Credit...John Ismay for The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 4:02 p.m. ETOfficials said more than 18 miles of anti-scale fencing had been installed in Washington, snaking around the White House campus and along the National Mall.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York TimesAs troops and armored vehicles pass the monuments of Washington for a military parade on Saturday, it will fall largely to federal and local agencies to ensure that the event proceeds free of serious disruptions.Federal and local authorities were given mere weeks to put together a security plan for the festivities, which include a scheduled appearance by President Trump, along with a number of his special guests.The high-profile occasion marking the Army’s 250th birthday has been designated a National Special Security Event. It is the fifth such event of the year, which is a record, according to Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington field office.The office is leading security for the event in coordination with the Park Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, the Metro Transit police and National Guard units.“We’re preparing for enormous turnout, hundreds of thousands of attendees,” Mr. McCool told reporters this week, adding: “Our mission is not just to secure an event but ensure public confidence and safety.”Mr. McCool noted that officials were tracking about nine counter-protests, but Jessica Taylor, the chief of the Park Police, said none of those planned demonstrations posed significant concerns.Still, as in past high-profile security events — which in recent months have included the presidential inauguration and former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral — parts of downtown Washington were made fortresslike this week for security reasons.As of Friday, many streets south of the White House had already been closed to traffic as officials installed barriers to control the flow of the anticipated crowds. Tall, black anti-scale fencing snaked around the White House campus and along the National Mall, while interlocking bike racks lined the parade route. According to Mr. McCool, officials installed about 18.5 miles of anti-scale fencing and 17 miles of the bike racks and concrete barriers.The barriers will funnel people hoping to attend the parade or an adjacent festival celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary through checkpoints, where they will be subject to screening with the aid of 175 magnetometers, federal officials said. Once inside the grounds, it will be standing room only — there are no bleachers to accommodate parade watchers.Parade goers also have been warned to expect to see drones overhead and an increased police presence in the streets and in the subway stations near the event, as officers undertake what Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police called “full activation across the city.” Any National Guard troops deployed on the streets would not be armed, Mr. McCool added.But much of the security operation will be beyond the public’s view. The F.B.I. has set up a command post at the Washington field office, from which crisis management, counterterrorism operations and intelligence analysis will be coordinated, according to Philip Bates, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s mission services division in that office. Multiple National Guard cyberdefense units, including from Washington, are also assisting, officials said.City officials declined to say on Friday how much the preparations might cost. Last month, defense officials estimated that the parade itself could cost up to $45 million. But the cost to Washington, and potentially to the federal government, will be known only after the tanks roll out of the city, officials said.Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials have expressed concern that Washington may be left with a hefty bill, should the parade damage streets that were never intended to carry the weight of heavy armored vehicles.The military has taken precautions to reduce that risk, Col. Jesse Curry, the director of the Army’s Office of the Chief of Engineers, told reporters this week. The measures include reinforcing roads with metal plates in the areas where tanks might have to make sharp turns that could cause their treads to grind the pavement, outfitting the treads with rubber track pads and putting down matting in staging areas.“This is our capital city as well, so we’re committed to ensuring that we minimize any possible damage,” he said.June 14, 2025, 3:43 p.m. ETThere are two M1 Abrams tanks parked in front of the president’s reviewing stand.Credit...John Ismay/The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 3:27 p.m. ETHours before the parade celebrating the Army’s anniversary, which coincides with President Trump’s 79th birthday, he took to Truth Social to describe a conversation he had with Vladimir Putin earlier today. “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 said.“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.”June 14, 2025, 3:32 p.m. ETIt was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to when he said there would be time spent discussing the conflict in Ukraine “next week.” There are currently no publicly announced talks set between representatives of the U.S., Russia and Ukraine. But Trump will depart for the G7 summit in Canada on Sunday, and the Ukraine war is sure to be a topic of conversation with the other leaders in attendance.June 14, 2025, 3:05 p.m. ETPrecipitation intensityVery lightHeavyExtremeSource: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via Iowa State University Note: Times are Eastern. By William B. Davis, Joel Eastwood and Bea MalskyThere is a significant chance of rain across the Washington, D.C., area on Saturday, the National Weather Service said, and thunderstorms late in the afternoon or evening could coincide with events near the National Mall to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.Thunderstorms can bring a variety of threats, including hail, lightning and damaging winds. Jeremy Geiger, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office that covers Baltimore and Washington, said the agency predicted up to an 80 percent chance of rain during the afternoon and evening.“I think it’s going to rain based on everything I’m seeing, but there is a small chance that it just misses parts of the District,” Mr. Geiger said on Saturday morning.Conditions are expected to be cloudy and humid for much of the day, with a high temperature of about 83 degrees Fahrenheit.Skies were cloudy on Saturday morning but conditions were dry. Scattered thunderstorms will come from northern Maryland as the day progresses, and it’s difficult to predict their exact trajectory and where the heaviest impact will be, Mr. Geiger said. “It could be anywhere within a 50-mile area from just south of D.C. up to Baltimore,” he said.Rainfall amounts are most likely to range from a half inch to 1.5 inches, but Mr. Geiger said there was a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of two to four inches, possibly even up to six inches, if the capital falls within the bull’s-eye of the heaviest thunderstorms.“Most of this rain is expected to fall within a one- to two-hour period at some point this evening,” Mr. Geiger said.Forecast risk of severe storms for SaturdayRiskSomeModerateHighIf amounts are on the higher end, the rain could cause flooding on streets, and the Weather Service issued a flood watch for the Washington area that will be in effect from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.“I think the most likely period is 6 to 9 p.m.,” Mr. Geiger said.Guests are scheduled to begin arriving at 2 p.m., just as the chance of rain increases. The parade begins at 6:30.The parade, running 1,600 yards down Constitution Avenue, is expected to feature up to 7,000 soldiers, tanks and other military equipment and a jump from an elite Army parachute team. It is also expected to include historical equipment, vehicles and aircraft owned by private collectors, and vintage aircraft will fly overhead.Cloud cover and high winds can affect aviation and parachute jumps.On Saturday morning, the cloud height was 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the ground, but Mr. Geiger said it could rise to 4,000 to 5,000 feet in the afternoon with clearing, and potentially lower again if thunderstorms pass through the area. He said winds during the storms could reach 20 to 30 miles per hour.Afterward, a music concert is scheduled on the National Mall, followed by a fireworks show around 10 p.m.President Trump said on Saturday that the parade would go on “rain or shine.”“Remember, a rainy day parade brings good luck,” he wrote on social media on Saturday.During a phone call between the White House and several federal agencies on Friday, officials discussed whether or not to begin Saturday’s Army parade earlier in the day to avoid the most severe weather.According to a government official familiar with the call who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details, the National Park Service’s policy is to shelter in place in the event of lightning strikes within seven miles of a permitted event like the Army parade. The White House and the Army would make the ultimate decision on whether to continue or cancel the parade.John Ismay contributed reporting.June 14, 2025, 3:02 p.m. ETRandy Cole, 61, an Army veteran and retired federal law enforcement officer from Maryland, was sitting on an outdoor patio having an afternoon beer before the night’s parade when a large anti-Trump demonstration passed by on the street in front of him. “I disagree with them but I support their right to do this,” he said after filming a few seconds of anti-Trump chanting on his iPhone. He believed the Army’s 250th birthday should be a moment of national unity. “It’s just unfortunate that it’s Trump’s birthday,” he said.June 14, 2025, 2:44 p.m. ETJoAnna DaemmrichReporting from WashingtonHilary Jackson, a 32-year-old wearing an American flag baseball cap and matching flag earrings, said that Saturday’s parade in Washington is a celebration of the unsung sacrifice of men and women like her parents, both Army veterans. “I mean, very rarely do you hear about people wanting to grow up and be a soldier and die for somebody else,” said Jackson, who came from Cleveland for the event. “It really is a sacrifice, a feeling of wanting to give back to the country.” While she said she was a Trump supporter, Jackson said she “would have come regardless.”Credit...JoAnna Daemmrich for The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 2:35 p.m. ETVanessa FriedmanVanessa Friedman has covered political image-making and its influences since Bush v. Gore.Members of the U.S. Army outside the Agriculture Department building on Friday.Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York TimesFor decades, even centuries, the allure of a man in uniform has been a romantic cliché. But swooning heroines are not the only ones who love the look. So do autocrats like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un — and so, apparently, does President Trump, who has fantasized about a military parade since his first term.On Saturday he will get his wish, just in time for his 79th birthday, which happens to coincide with the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army.That’s when 6,600 soldiers, resplendent in uniforms representing conflicts from the Revolutionary War to today, as well as hundreds in contemporary battle dress, will march in formation down Constitution Avenue and across the National Mall, medals gleaming, hardware flashing, like nothing so much as soldier supermodels.If you think that comparison is a reach, consider that Mr. Trump himself offered it up during his West Point commencement speech in late May, saying of the cadets: “These are good-looking people, I’ll tell you. General, what’s going on over here? Looks like all a bunch of male models.”Of course, there are women at West Point, though they are a minority, and they will be in Saturday’s parade, along with tanks, trucks and assorted military vehicles.All of it will create a made-for-television (and Truth Social) moment that will allow Mr. Trump, the commander in chief saluting from the viewing stand, to lay claim to the same set of values that animate the spectacle — even though he never served.“The uniformed body crystallizes all these associations we have,” said Paul Achter, an associate professor of rhetoric at the University of Richmond in Virginia, who has written on “military chic.” “It makes your chest look broader, your posture straighter, your shoulders stronger. It becomes shorthand for words like manly, strong, brave, dominant.”June 14, 2025, 2:01 p.m. ETPentagon MemoSome of the combat boots that were retrieved from a memorial display on the lawn in front of the 101st Airborne Division headquarters at Fort Campbell, Ky., for troops killed in America’s post-9/11 wars. The memorial was abruptly canceled this year after Army officials decided it no longer made sense to single out the dead from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for special honors.Credit...Landon Edwards for The New York TimesThe last time tanks paraded through the streets of Washington, the U.S. Army was at the peak of its confidence and power. U.S. forces had smashed Saddam Hussein’s army in a ground assault that lasted just 100 hours. The Soviet Union was months from collapse.Three decades later, Army tanks are once again preparing to take to the streets of the capital, this time as part of a procession that President Trump has described as a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday and raw American firepower. Now, though, the service is working through its most profound identity crisis since its defeat in Vietnam.There are concerns about the politicization of the force by a president who describes protesters as “animals” and often seems to be looking for an excuse to mobilize ground troops in response to demonstrations or civil unrest.There are big questions about whether the Army’s aging equipment can survive on future battlefields swarming with cheap precision drones and what role the service will play as the Pentagon shifts its focus to deterring China.Finally, there’s the unsatisfying end to the war in Iraq and the military’s defeat in Afghanistan, with both continuing to inflict a psychic toll on soldiers and their families who question whether their sacrifices amounted to anything.And a decision to end a display of some 8,000 boots at Fort Campbell, Ky., as part of a remembrance of those killed in America’s post-9/11 wars reflected a broader impulse among many in the Pentagon to put the painful era of wars behind them.June 14, 2025, 1:21 p.m. ETSeveral hundred people have gathered in a park about a mile from the White House for a “Refuse Fascism” rally, chanting anti-Trump slogans and holding up giant anti-Trump banners. They plan to march to the White House around 2 p.m. and hold another rally there.Credit...Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesJune 14, 2025, 12:36 p.m. ETThere is a significant chance of rain across the Washington area on Saturday, the National Weather Service said, and thunderstorms late in the afternoon or evening could coincide with the day’s main events.Rainfall amounts will most likely range from a half inch to one inch, according to Jeremy Geiger, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office that covers Baltimore and Washington. But Geiger said there was a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of two to four inches, and an extremely slight chance of as much as six inches.June 14, 2025, 12:25 p.m. ETSecurity fencing near the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. Saturday evening’s weather forecast predicts thunderstorms for the time of the parade.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York TimesPresident Trump said in a post on social media on Saturday morning that the military parade he had ordered for Washington would go ahead “rain or shine,” dismissing concerns that a forecast of thunderstorms might force a cancellation.“Our great military parade is on, rain or shine,” Mr. Trump wrote in all capitals letters in a post on Truth Social. “Remember, a rainy day parade brings good luck. I’ll see you all in D.C.”An interagency call was scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday to discuss the updated weather forecast, according to a government official familiar with the call who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details under discussion.During a phone call between the White House and several federal agencies on Friday, officials had discussed whether or not to begin Saturday’s parade earlier in the day to avoid rain showers and thunderstorms that are forecast in the late afternoon and evening, when the parade is set to take place.The Federal Aviation Administration and schedulers at nearby airports did not want any changes to the parade’s timeline, the official said. Flights will be paused to account for planes and helicopters flying over the National Mall as part of the parade, and changing the start time would result in further disruptions to commercial air travel.The National Park Service’s policy is to shelter in place in the event of lightning strikes within seven miles of a permitted event like the Army parade, the official said, and the Park Service will alert the Pentagon if lightning is seen that close. The White House and the Army would then be responsible for the decision to continue or cancel the parade.In Friday’s meeting, the White House indicated that President Trump wanted the parade to proceed as planned, according to the official.June 14, 2025, 12:06 p.m. ETPresident Trump and Melania Trump, the first lady, attended France’s Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017.It wasn’t China, Russia or North Korea that inspired President Trump to host a military parade in Washington. It was France.As a guest of President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Trump was so impressed by the Bastille Day military parade he watched unfurling down the Champs-Élysées in 2017 that he immediately wanted one of his own.The Pentagon opposed the plan during his first term, wanting to keep the armed forces out of politics. But that guardrail has vanished in his second term.The French parade features troops marching, rolling in tanks and armored vehicles, mounted on horseback and whizzing overhead in fighter jets and military helicopters before thousands of spectators, including members of the French government. It occurs each year to commemorate July 14 — a day marking two symbolic moments during the French Revolution — and has been a rarely missed annual ritual since 1880.It started as a symbol of the French Republic and a way to reconcile the population with an army that had been defeated by the Prussians and had lost two eastern regions of the country as a result, explained Olivier Ihl, a political science professor at Sciences Po University in Grenoble and the author of a book about the July 14 celebration called “La Fête Republicaine.”The eastern regions were not reclaimed by France until after World War I, but by then, Mr. Ihl said, the army had been imbued with symbols of the French Republic and largely had come to represent the defense of French democracy against enemies both external and internal.“In France, the republic wasn’t born all at once, like in the United States, from a war of independence, the adoption of a constitution,” Mr. Ihl explained.Throughout the 19th century, the republic was continually overthrown and “there was a great battle in France to impose the republic,” he said. That meant “republicanizing” the army — convincing the officers to “have republican ideas, republican convictions, and to fight for the republic,” he said.Compulsory military service was suspended by the French government in 1997, but the national attachment to the armed forces remained strong.The annual event has become a French tradition, lauded historically by the political left and the political right alike.In 2011, when the Green Party’s presidential candidate, Eva Joly, suggested replacing it with a “citizen parade,” she was universally criticized.June 14, 2025, 11:52 a.m. ETTroops marching on Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River toward the Pentagon during the National Victory Celebration parade in Washington on June 8, 1991.Credit...Doug Mills/Associated PressIt began with an F-117 stealth fighter flying by as thousands of U.S. troops began a 3.5-mile march from Capitol Hill.The last major military parade in the nation’s capital was on June 8, 1991, just months after the end of Operation Desert Storm. It was called the National Victory Celebration, and its festivities were a celebration of American military might and technological prowess after U.S. and coalition forces had expelled the Iraqi Army from Kuwait following roughly a month of airstrikes and a 100-hour ground war.Once the wedge-shaped black jet flew down the National Mall, more than a dozen Army and Navy helicopters followed, as did an OV-10 Bronco observation plane from the Marines.Hundreds of thousands of people cheered as more than 8,000 active-duty and reserve service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard along with a civilian contingent from the Merchant Marine made their way along the route from Capitol Hill down Constitution Avenue, over the Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River to the Pentagon.Early in the route, they marched under a huge yellow ribbon suspended over the road by cranes.On Saturday, troops and military equipment were set to again roll down the streets of Washington, this time for the Army’s 250th birthday celebration. President Trump has boasted about plans for the “amazing day,” which is also his 79th birthday.Desert Storm veterans waved to spectators lining the route of the parade.Credit...Terry Ashe/The LIFE Picture Collection, via ShutterstockA picnic on the National Mall for the service members after the parade.Credit...Bob Strong/Associated PressBut the 1991 parade was different.It came just months after a lopsided victory against an enemy army in the largest U.S. military operation since Vietnam.For some politicians still feeling the aftershocks of that war in Southeast Asia, the battle in the Iraqi desert felt like vindication.“By God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all,” President George H.W. Bush said proudly at the end of a speech to state legislators at the White House in March, shortly after the cease-fire was signed.Leading the parade was an officer whose approach to war was shaped by combat in Vietnam, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who had overseen the Gulf War from a base in Saudi Arabia, with his staff from U.S. Central Command in formation behind him.Once the general reached Mr. Bush’s reviewing stand in front of the Ellipse near the White House, he split off to salute the president, who left the stand’s protective bubble of ballistic glass to greet him.General Schwarzkopf then stepped into the president’s stand and sat beside his boss, Gen. Colin L. Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Together, the two generals received and returned salutes from the marchers alongside their commander in chief.The parade was heavy on people and marching bands, and relatively light on hulking vehicles.Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, left, and President George H.W. Bush watching the 1991 military parade.Credit...Ron Edmonds/Associated PressJust three M1 Abrams tanks, two M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, two M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System vehicles, two Light Attack Vehicles, an Amphibious Assault Vehicle and four M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers accompanied them.On Saturday, however, there were plans for 28 tanks, 28 Bradleys, 28 Stryker fighting vehicles and five Paladins. Crowds were expected to be much smaller than in 1991, as the Secret Service had fenced off the parade route to all but those who consent to a security screening. The thunderstorms and rain showers predicted for late afternoon and early evening may thin the crowd even more.More than 60 warplanes flew down the Mall at various points in 1991, but just a handful of World War II-vintage planes of the former Army Air Forces will fly on Saturday.For the Desert Storm celebration, the Navy flew a dozen warplanes in three diamond formations. The Air Force flew at least one of every kind of plane that it had used over Iraq, from a B-52 bomber to cargo planes and refuelers to F-15s and A-10 attack jets.Cheers went up for the military hardware rolling or flying down the Mall, just as for the marchers.A banner with President Trump’s portrait is displayed behind security fencing.Credit...Eric LeeA military aircraft on the Mall ahead of Saturday’s parade for the Army’s 250th birthday.Credit...Eric LeeThe crowd clapped and shouted at the sight of a Patriot air-defense missile launcher and mock-ups of two Tomahawk cruise missiles, which the parade’s announcer called “a technical hero” of the war.Willard Scott, then a mainstay of morning television on the “Today” show, told the crowd — many of whom were waving small flags — how many Tomahawks the Navy had fired during the war.There were no tall security barriers keeping the revelers locked in place, and after about an hour and 45 minutes, they began leaving as marchers carrying the flags of all U.S. states and territories came by, followed by a U.S.O. float bearing a large sign saying, “Thank you America.”The president stayed to sing “God Bless America” and soon made his way to the White House’s South Lawn, where a Marine helicopter landed to fly him to Camp David.After some pops and puffs of smoke from a brief daylight fireworks show, one last Army band played “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”“Goooooood morning, Americans!” Adrian Cronauer, a former Air Force radio D.J., belted into a microphone — a play on a line made famous by Robin Williams in a 1987 movie about Mr. Cronauer’s tour in Vietnam.One final flyby, and it was over.For the men and women marching to the Pentagon, they were home. But tens of thousands of troops were still in the desert, minding Iraqi prisoners of war, dodging unexploded American munitions littering the sand, and giving humanitarian aid. Around 200 U.S. service members died in the war, and tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed.For all of the celebration of the Gulf War’s accomplishments, and the idea that limited war could provide lasting results, the syndrome that Mr. Bush thought he had kicked was merely in remission.The Lincoln Memorial in Washington is seen behind security fencing.Credit...Eric LeeHis son, George W. Bush, ordered U.S. forces to war in Iraq again as president just 12 years later.That war led to a longer conflict than U.S. troops faced in Vietnam.Although America’s combat mission in the country largely ended for a second time in 2011, and then transitioned into a battle against the Islamic State until 2021, U.S. forces remain in the country to support Iraqi forces attacking pockets of Islamic State fighters.There is no military victory to celebrate this time, only a 250-year milestone for the Army and a president threatening that protesters who assembled during the event would be met with “very big force” on his birthday.June 14, 2025, 11:36 a.m. ETSoldiers will march from the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and then proceed along a route past the National Mall.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York TimesThe military parade scheduled for Saturday in Washington will celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary — and coincide with President Trump’s 79th birthday.The New York Times will cover the event with reporters and video journalists on the ground, and other reporters who cover the military and the Trump administration will provide analysis of the military procession. The Times will also provide a live feed of the event.What time is the parade happening and where is it happening?The parade will start at 6:30 p.m., with soldiers starting their march to the parade route from the Pentagon in Northern Virginia, and heavy vehicles staged from West Potomac Park in Washington. The soldiers will then proceed to the National Mall, past the Lincoln Memorial to Mr. Trump’s review stand near the White House.The event is expected to last about an hour and 15 minutes, ending at about 7:45 p.m.How to stream the paradeThe Times will broadcast the military parade on its website and app. Our reporters will also deliver real-time analysis.The parade will be covered by other news outlets online, including on C-SPAN.org, PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN’s YouTube channel. Official livestreams will also be available through the Pentagon’s media website and the Army’s YouTube channel.How to watch the parade on network televisionMajor cable news stations and broadcast networks will cover the parade live, including local outlets like Fox 5 on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Google Android TV and Vizio. Fox News has a full day of programming planned around the event.But America’s three biggest television networks said they did not plan to carry the event live on their affiliates. Each had prior programming commitments for Saturday evening, although ABC, CBS and NBC said that coverage would be available digitally via their 24-hour streaming channels.June 13, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ETA rally in Atlanta in April protesting the Trump administration. More protests are being organized for Saturday throughout the country.Credit...Audra Melton for The New York TimesPlanned protests against the Trump administration that are expected to be among the largest since the president’s second term began will be held across the country on Saturday.The demonstrations will occur in all 50 states, and organizers have estimated that there will be roughly 2,000 of them — ranging from small groups in more rural communities to larger rallies in major cities including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver. According to a map provided by organizers, there are some three dozen events scheduled in Indiana alone. Protests are also scheduled in other countries including Britain, Mexico and Germany.They come as President Trump’s immigration crackdown and decision to deploy the military in Los Angeles have already led to large-scale protests there and additional protests in several other cities.On the same day as the protests, Mr. Trump has scheduled a military parade in Washington for the Army’s 250th anniversary, which also coincides with his 79th birthday.Here’s what we know about the protests.Who’s behind the protests?The demonstrations, organized under the slogan “No Kings,” have been arranged by a number of groups that overlap with the coalition that pulled together the “Hands Off!” demonstrations on April 5 and other recent large protests against the president.Organizers include Indivisible, the American Civil Liberties Union and 50501. Some of these groups organized protests during Mr. Trump’s first term over abortion rights and gun violence. The “Hands Off!” protests in April focused on the message that the president was threatening health care, education and Social Security.The coalition behind “No Kings” has branded Saturday as a “day of defiance” against what the groups describe as authoritarian overreach by Mr. Trump and his allies. Plans for the event were in the works well before federal immigration raids set off protests in Los Angeles and other cities.Organizers have characterized the Washington parade — the largest display of military power in the nation’s capital in decades — not as a celebration of the armed forces but as a theatrical “display of dominance” akin to military marches hosted by dictators abroad.Where will the protests take place?San Francisco is among the cities where “No Kings” rallies have been scheduled for Saturday.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesThe main events are slated for Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. But there are also protests planned in smaller communities like Lewisburg, W.Va.; Pinedale, Wyo.; and Moab, Utah.Philadelphia, a city rich with revolutionary history, will host the event’s national livestream, said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible and one of the rallies’ organizers, keeping with their efforts to frame the protests as peaceful and patriotic opposition.Ms. Greenberg declined to speculate on the size of the demonstrations but said that organizers had received more RSVPs than for the “Hands Off!” mass protests in April.One major city is notably absent from the list of planned demonstrations: Washington, the site of the military parade. The omission was intentional, Ms. Greenberg said.In remarks earlier this week, Mr. Trump warned that any protesters who rallied against the military parade in Washington would be met with “very big force.”Instead of drawing more attention to the military parade and perhaps giving Mr. Trump the opportunity to carry out his threat, Ms. Greenberg said, organizers want the focus to be on the people.“We want to create contrast,” Ms. Greenberg said. “Not conflict.”What time will the protests be held?While plans and schedules vary from city to city, many are scheduled between late morning and early afternoon. At the flagship protest in Philadelphia, organizers plan on leading a march from LOVE Park to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where speakers are expected to include Ms. Greenberg; Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; and Martin Luther King III.How has the Trump administration responded?When asked on Wednesday whether, in light of his warning about using “very big force,” Mr. Trump would allow peaceful protests around the military parade, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, called the question “stupid.”“The president absolutely supports peaceful protests,” she said. “He supports the First Amendment. He supports the right of Americans to make their voices heard. He does not support violence of any kind. He does not support assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their job.”Mr. Trump addressed the “No Kings” protests directly for the first time on Thursday, brushing off their central message.“I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” Mr. Trump said, appearing to refer to the opposition he faces from Democrats. “We’re not a king at all, thank you very much,” he added.Chris Cameron contributed reporting.