The U.S. Army estimates the cost of President Trump’s military parade last Saturday at as much as $45 million, including $16 million to repair damage done to city streets by heavy military equipment. The National Priorities Project writes about 10 things the government could have funded instead of the military parade.
HANNA HOMESTEAD; [email protected]
Homestead is a research analyst for the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Homestead told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “The amount of military equipment for Trump’s parade includes thousands of tons rolling through the streets, as well as aircraft. The Chinook helicopters burn 400 gallons of jet fuel an hour. These are the helicopters that delivered napalm in Vietnam. There are enormous climate costs.
“Most folks don’t know about the level of militarism in this country. What is happening right now is indicative of the challenges we face. We need more people’s attention on this issue. We are devoting resources to a military parade––something akin to what dictators do around the world––at the same time that critical services are being cut to millions of people around the country through the budget reconciliation process and through the normal appropriations budgeting process. Meanwhile, troops are being deployed on U.S. soil against people protesting illegal deportations. The deployment of troops in Los Angeles cost an estimated $130 million. That would be enough to keep more than 700,000 people on food stamps. What are we investing all this money into militarism for? The only people who are being served by this system are the ultrawealthy, who are trying to increase their wealth through the budgeting process.
“As we are facing the increasing and intensifying effects of climate crisis, we also know that the military is the largest institutional polluter in the world. Meanwhile, Israel just attacked Iran; we pay more than 40 percent of Israel’s military. Trump has requested a trillion dollars for the military budget, half of which goes to for-profit contractors who profit off of endless war and climate collapse. Those corporations then take that money and lobby the government for more money for their contracts.
“In 2024, the average taxpayer paid more than $3,800 for the Pentagon and deportations and border militarization. That’s an astounding figure. Biden and the Democrats already increased the ICE budget to record levels. Trump is making a problem that’s already bad worse. This isn’t just a partisan issue––it’s a structural problem. Compare that $3,800 to the $787 per person for the Department of Education, $149 for the National Institutes of Health, $120 for school lunch and child nutrition programs, and 41 cents for minority business development association. It gives you a sense of how skewed our federal budget already is toward militarism. We’re seeing the impacts of that with U.S. test scores sliding, life expectancy declining, and the poorest medical outcomes of any economically advanced country. But the Trump administration and the MAGA members of Congress are accelerating the inequality and cruelty to a degree that is astounding and will have long-term repercussions. This massive [budget reconciliation bill] will cut services to millions of people. It’s not easily reversed, and it’s a daunting outlook.
“None of this is inevitable. These are political choices being made. This administration and Congress are not trimming fat from the federal budget. They are cutting the heart out of communities to further enrich billionaires and war profiteers.”