President Donald Trump was impressed with the colorful military parade he saw last year when he attended France's Bastille Day celebration in Paris. He had gone there at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. After returning back, he praised the spectacle and said, "we're going to have to try and top it."

The Star Tribune reports that plans were being drawn up for a military parade in November, but Donald Trump has canceled it because the tentative price tag has gone far beyond initial estimates. The President has said that, in order to commemorate the centennial of the end of fighting in World War I, he would Travel to Paris to attend the events.

Huge variation in cost of military parade

The estimate of $92 million for Donald Trump’s proposed military parade is believed to be nearly three times the price that the White House had initially suggested. Such a wide variation has dampened the enthusiasm and Trump feels a section of Washington DC people are responsible for such a state of affairs. The parade was expected to have the participation of US troops from all branches along with units in period uniforms. They would have represented the nation's history and revived memories of the past.

While the Defense Department has announced that plans for the 2018 parade have been put on hold, the President has tweeted that things could improve next year and such a program could be scheduled when the price "comes WAY DOWN." A spokesman of the Pentagon has said that the White House will have a relook at the issue in 2019.

The military parade was Trump’s idea

According to NBC News, those who had worked out the initial estimates had not done their proper homework. The White House budget director informed Congress that the price could be between $10 million to $30 million. This was based on the cost of the Gulf War victory parade held after the 1991 Gulf War which was nearly $8 million.

Therefore, the revised estimate of $92 million for Trump’s parade was unexpected.

It seems that planning for the military parade started in June, and the cost estimate now projected has come as a setback to Trump’s plans. He has decided to cancel it and has blamed the "ridiculously high" price tag given by DC officials. He tweeted, "The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it."

Donald Trump has an alternate plan to celebrate the end of World War I on November 11th by attending the Paris parade.
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