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U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to speak after watching as members of the U.S Army participated in the 250th birthday parade of the U.S. Army June 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Army is marking its 250th birthday with a military parade including roughly 6,600 troops, 150 vehicles, and over 50 aircraft. The parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, is designed to tell the history of the Army.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Donald Trump is getting mocked online as social media users declare the president's military parade on Saturday to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army (which also fell on Flag Day and his 79th birthday) was altogether "underwhelming."
From the parade to other festivities, the event is estimated to have cost between $25m and $45m, according to an Army spokesperson.
Despite the hefty efforts and price tag, the consensus is that the celebrations in the country's capital, which Trump promised would be "like no other", didn't live up to the hype.
What did reporters say about the parade?
Around 200,000 people were anticipated to attend the event in the country's capital; however, reporters on the ground noted the numbers were "nowhere near" this predicted amount and described the parade as "low-energy" with no speakers along the route for people to hear the broadcast.
"Overall this was a pretty listless and low-energy parade and crowd. People wearing Trump paraphernalia far outnumbered those wearing Army hats and shirts from what I could see," said The New York Times journalist John Ismay, who was reporting from the event.
Visitors watch a parade and celebration marking the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army June 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Army is marking its 250th birthday with a military parade including roughly 6,600 troops, 150 vehicles, and over 50 aircraft. The parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, is designed to tell the history of the ArmyPhoto by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
He continued, "There were no speakers along the parade route, so spectators couldn’t hear whatever was being broadcast by the announcers closer to the reviewing stand. People are now flooding across Constitution Avenue at 18th Street to leave."
Meanwhile, The New York Times's White House correspondent Shawn McCreesh noted that "Hordes of people are streaming east across the mall to leave."
He added, “'Where’s everybody going?' one man next to me just wondered aloud."
Mark Segraves, an NBC Washington reporter, posted footage from the parade, which showed a sparse crowd.
"The #Army250 parade starting 30 minutes early due to incoming weather. Crowd nowhere near the 200,000 expected. @nbcwashington," he said.
(Although Steven Cheung, the White House's Director of Communications, posted on X, formerly Twitter, and claimed there were "over 250,000 patriots" who showed up to the parade, "despite the threat of rain.")
The Independent's Richard Hall noted there was "fear" ahead of the parade that festivities would "bring a touch of North Korea to the nation’s capital" but ultimately, it was "something closer to a medium-sized town’s July 4th celebration," with "families, picnics, bad weather and small crowds."
"It was just a parade – and a parade that was, for all its millions of dollars spent, controversy engendered, and exhausting security precautions, a little underwhelming," said The Guardian's J Oliver Conroy, who summarised the spectacle as "just kind of lame."
How did social media react to the parade?
It didn't take long for Trump critics on social media to mock the president and compare the turnout with the 2,000 mass protests taking place simultaneously in US cities, where millions came out to express their opposition to Trump.
"The look on your face when your $45 million military parade flops with a tiny crowd, and on the same day, millions of Americans march against your corrupt administration," Republicans Against Trump said.
A second person wrote, "Trump looking absolutely inconsolable at his fascist-themed 79th birthday party, which no one turned up to other than those who had to because he's their boss."
The Lincoln Project posted a comparison between the number of people at Trump's parade compared to the 'No Kings' protest march in San Diego.
"The silent crowd with the squeaking has me CRYING," another person shared, alongside footage from the parade where you can only hear the sound of squeaking from the tanks as they made their way around the streets of D.C.
"I know it’s an 80-year-old tank, but the loud squeaking over the silent, low-energy, sparse crowd is just perfect for Trump’s underwhelming birthday," someone else wrote.
A viral TikTok posted, "The military parade Trump thought he was getting," along with footage from a North Korea military parade, and then added, "vs. the parade he got," as they then showed footage from the Washington D.C. parade.
"You’re telling me THIS cost us taxpayers $45mil?" they added in the caption to the video, which now has over 4.5 million views.
"Donald thought he was going to get this," an X user shared, along with more clips from a North Korea military parade.
A similar TikTok has also gone viral, only this time it is comparing the number of attendees at Trump's military parade in comparison to the large crowds which turned out at the "No Kings" protests.
In the caption, they added, "The parade could’ve been an email," and the clip now has 3.5 million views.
Elsewhere, TikToker's claim they reserved tickets for Trump's military parade with no plans to go, and The best signs that sum up 'No Kings' protesters' feelings about Trump.
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