With reports that the military parade President Donald Trump and his team were planning for November 10th of this year would cost upwards of 92 million dollars, the president announced on Twitter that he had "cancelled" it.
And not surprisingly, he found someone to blame:
It was then that Muriel Bowser, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., took to Twitter to fire back.
Bowser is just one of many who believe that an extravagant military parade would be a waste of money and resources. The event has been a source of contention since even before the Trump administration ordered the Department of Defense to begin looking into it this past June. At that time, one official told reporters "There is only one person who wants this parade" in a reference to Donald Trump.
That official seems to be right. One informal poll conducted by Military Times saw 89 percent of 51 thousand votes express their disapproval of the parade.
Similarly, social media users applauded Bowser's retort.
Some rebuked Republican representatives in the process.
Others pointed out the hypocrisy of spending millions on the parade while simultaneously cutting veterans' access to health care.
The parade has long been seen by much of the public as an attempt by the president to stroke his ego.
Trump reportedly sought an American military parade after his visit to Paris, France in July of last year, where he observed a Bastille Day celebration with French President Emmanuel Macron.
"We're going to have to try to top it," he told the French President.
However, many observers have inferred that, for the President, the parade is less about honoring the troops and more about displaying his power.
Some reports have said that the administration was seeking tanks and armed vehicles for the procession, despite the defense department being prohibited to do so by the 2019 National Defense Authorization act, which Trump himself signed:
In providing support [for the parade], the secretary [of defense] may expend funds for the display of small arms and munitions appropriate for customary ceremonial honors and for the participation of military units that perform customary ceremonial duties. [The secretary] may not expend funds to provide motorized vehicles, aviation platforms [or] munitions other than the munitions specifically described [above].
While it looks like Trump will have to wait until 2019 for his military parade, his Twitter indicates that he's already declared war on D.C. officials.
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