{"id":179483,"date":"2025-06-12T22:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179483\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T22:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:26:14","slug":"is-trump-trying-to-steal-from-king-charles-birthday-military-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179483\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Trump trying to steal from King Charles’ birthday military parade?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday morning in the U.K., King Charles III and other members of the British royal family are expected to stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in London for what\u2019s become an annual spectacle known as Trooping the Color.<\/p>\n

Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Catherine will do their royal waves and watch a parade of more than a thousand British soldiers on foot or on horseback, along with a flyover of RAF jets. The nearly 300-year Trooping the Color<\/a> has long served as a way for patriotic, pro-royal Britons to officially honor their monarch\u2019s birthday \u2014 even if the current king\u2019s actual birthday is months away.<\/p>\n

Later on Saturday, America\u2019s President Donald Trump will stage his own version of a royal military birthday parade in Washington, D.C. Critics, however, say it\u2019s more of a \u201cSoviet-style\u201d extravaganza, with 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-propelled howitzers scheduled to roll past his reviewing stand near the White House. Trump\u2019s parade is meant to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army but this Saturday also happens to be Flag Day, as well as Trump\u2019s 79th birthday.<\/p>\n

In response to Trump\u2019s birthday parade, his opponents will stage mass \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests in cities across the United States, including nearly a dozen communities in the Bay Area, to counter what they say is the president\u2019s attempt to feed his ego and assert his dictatorial desires, as the Associated Press reported<\/a>. Trump\u2019s parade also comes after a tense week in modern U.S. history \u2014 after he deployed several thousand National Guard troops and Marines t<\/a>o Los Angeles in response to mostly peaceful protests against ICE immigration raids in that city.<\/p>\n

\"NationalNational Guard troops have begun arriving in Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump to stamp out protests that have broken out in recent days against federal immigration authorities seeking to carry out deportations in the region. The members of California\u2019s National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, where confrontations occurred the last two days.on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The national organizers of the \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests say their events will be a way for everyday Americans to stand up for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration, the Associated Press reported. Protesters have called for Trump to be \u201cdethroned\u201d as they compare his actions to that of a king or a strongman and not a democratically elected president.<\/p>\n

Trump has said that he got the idea for a military parade during his first administration after attending France\u2019s Bastille Day parade in 2017, according to Axios<\/a>. Trump, though, canceled plans for a military parade in 2018 after costs soared to $92 million, and city officials winced at the thought of heavy military equipment rolling through D.C. streets.<\/p>\n

\"WINDSOR,WINDSOR, ENGLAND – JULY 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II inspect a Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards at Windsor Castle on July 13, 2018 in Windsor, England. Her Majesty welcomed the President and Mrs Trump at the dais in the Quadrangle of the Castle. A Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards, gave a Royal Salute and the US National Anthem was played. The Queen and the President inspected the Guard of Honour before watching the military march past. The President and First Lady then joined Her Majesty for tea at the Castle. (Photo by Richard Pohle – WPA Pool\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if Trump said he was inspired by France\u2019s Bastille Day parade, he\u2019s also known to be a big admirer of the British royal family and the trappings of the 1,000-year-old institution that they represent. Trump family biographers also have written about how he and especially his daughter Ivanka Trump<\/a> have always wanted to present themselves an American royal family.<\/p>\n

While the timing of Trump\u2019s parade and Charles\u2019 Trooping the Color birthday celebration may be a coincidence, the comparisons are inevitable, with the U.S. president likewise using a military event to assert his role as head of state, as Vanity Fair writer Erin Vanderhoof said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Britain'sBritain’s King Charles III, at centre with Queen Camilla, third right, joined by Prince George, left, Prince William, Prince Louis Princess Charlotte, Kate Princess of Wales, Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, third right Prince Edward and Lady Louise Windsor on the Balcony at Buckingham Palace after attending the Trooping the Color ceremony, in London, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Trooping the Color is the King’s Birthday Parade and one of the nation’s most impressive and iconic annual events attended by almost every member of the Royal Family. (AP Photo\/Alberto Pezzali)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, a military parade carries different connotations in modern Britain than in the United States, with Vanderhoof saying that \u201cthe purposes of the two parades couldn\u2019t be more different.\u201d While both events will include a military flypast, Trooping the Color offers a more old-fashioned sense of pageantry with those soldiers on horseback, dressed in brightly colored ceremonial uniforms and elaborate headgear.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s parade on the other hand, with its tanks and rocket launchers, \u201cwill foreground modernity and military might,\u201d Vanderhoof said. This spectacle also has been orchestrated by a president who has long sought the ability to use the American military as a \u201cblunt instrument against those he perceives to be his domestic opponents,\u201d as author David Rothkopf wrote in the Daily Beast <\/a>this week.<\/p>\n

The Army has long planned some kind of celebration for its semiquincentennial on June 14, the Associated Press said.<\/a> But in his return to power in the 2024 election, Trump decided to ratchet up the Pentagon\u2019s plans into a full-scale military parade on his birthday. Army officials, however, have said there are no plans to actually celebrate Trump\u2019s birthday on Saturday \u2014 he won\u2019t be serenaded with \u201cHappy Birthday,\u201d for example, Vanderhoof said.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn upside-down American flag is seen as demonstrators, activists, and protesters gather and rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside of San Jose City Hall in San Jose, Calif., Monday, June 9, 2025. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, Trump\u2019s critics warn that his parade, following events in Los Angeles this week, should leave Americans asking whether their leader has \u201ccrossed a dangerous line,\u201d Rothkopf said. It\u2019s a line that modern British rulers, such as Charles or his late mother, Elizabeth II, would never dare cross. Even with the royal family\u2019s centuries-long association with divine rights and imperialism, Charles and his heir, Prince William, are known to respect their place in a constitutional monarchy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those who know or who have studied Trump, the events of this week are so profoundly chilling,\u201d Rothkopf said. \u201cWhether it is boots on the ground in Los Angeles or the polished boots that will be marching a four-mile parade route through our nation\u2019s capital this weekend, we now have a president who sees the military as an extension of his own personal power \u2014 his most lavish and ostentatious acquisition yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday morning in the U.K., King Charles III and other members of the British royal family are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[557,25744,25745,4080,30688,23899,23900,32,77,2843,2597,603,23901,12,285,2579,5105,7710,519,448,6417,23902,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-179483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-news","10":"tag-california-politics","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-celebrity-alert","13":"tag-celebrity-politics","14":"tag-coffee-break","15":"tag-donald-trump","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-military","19":"tag-national-news","20":"tag-national-politics","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-protests","24":"tag-royal","25":"tag-royal-families","26":"tag-royal-family","27":"tag-royals","28":"tag-things-to-do","29":"tag-tv-streaming","30":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114672748823179729","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}