Donald Trump’s Inaugural parade could have been a whole lot weirder, according to documents obtained by the Huffington Post in a Freedom of Information Act request. Trump wanted a full military parade during his Inauguration including, it seems, a number of “military vehicles.”
Several media outlets reported in January that Trump had been considering having branches of the military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in a show of force normally reserved for third world dictators.
He even suggested that there could be a tank in his parade.
The parade ended up fairly standard, and even shorter than normal, since Trump’s Inauguration and visit to his new Oval Office digs ran longer than expected. It also wasn’t widely attended: because the parade started later than usual, many guests gave up their seats so that they could prep for the evening’s balls.
Now, its been revealed that Trump did actually request a stronger military presence, and his aides tried to help his dreams come true.
Unfortunately, as you can see by the letter, those in charge of scheduling the Pentagon’s presence in the parade pushed back.
“I explained that such support would be out of guidelines,” the author said. “And the costs associated with bringing military vehicles to the [National Capital Region] would be considered reimbursable.”
The military is typically responsible for providing entertainment, but in the form of its marching bands and musical groups, not its heavy artillery. The Pentagon was not only concerned about the equipment, though, but about whether DC roads could handle a parade of tanks—and whether tanks could even, technically, be in a parade.
“Also concerned that we as a command need an opportunity to staff this request and to make deliberate decisions about vehicle choice and configuration, paint scheme, uniform for crew members, etc. before we start providing pictures which might be regarded as binding,” the letter reads.
In the end, the military only approved the bands and a few flyover aircraft from each of the military’s branches.