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Title: President Trump's inauguration team wanted 'military tactical vehicles' in Pennsylvania Avenue parade
Source:
Daily Mail
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... al-vehicles-Jan-20-parade.html
Published: Mar 22, 2017
Author: Nikki Schwab
Post Date: 2017-03-24 20:22:09 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 256
Comments: 1
New emails given to the Huffington Post show that the Presidential Inaugural Committee sought out 'military tactical vehicles' for the inaugural parade New emails prove that President Donald Trump's inaugural team sought out 'military tactical vehicles' to be used in the January 20 parade. The Huffington Post previously reported that a member of the president's transition team had floated the idea of having tanks and missile launchers drive down Pennsylvania Avenue after Trump's swearing-in at the Capitol Building. Now, correspondence given to the publication through a Freedom of Information Act request corroborates that report and shows that a Department of Defense official was uncomfortable with such a display, more common in countries like Russia and North Korea, and not in democracies like the United States. Some in the Pentagon worried that such a showing of force would too closely resemble parades in Moscow, Russia (left) or Pyongyang, North Korea (right) Emails show Pentagon officials apprehensive about such a showing of force and then relief when Trump's team seemingly backed away from the plan, requesting a flyover instead. The planned flyover was then cancelled thanks to bad weather on Trump's inauguration day. 'PIC is seriously considering adding military vehicles to the Inaugural Parade. Discussion is completely off the record at this point ... but the establishing guidance has come from the highest level,' wrote a Department of Defense official, whose name was redacted in an email dated December 13, 2016. 'I do believe they will be making a request,' the individual added. Throughout the exchange the Pentagon official advised that the department treat such a request with great caution. 'The conversation started as "Can you send us some pictures of military vehicles we could add to the parade,"' the official wrote. Emails show Pentagon officials apprehensive about such a showing of force and then relief when Trump's team seemingly backed away from the plan, requesting a flyover instead. The planned flyover was then cancelled thanks to bad weather on Trump's inauguration day. 'PIC is seriously considering adding military vehicles to the Inaugural Parade. Discussion is completely off the record at this point ... but the establishing guidance has come from the highest level,' wrote a Department of Defense official, whose name was redacted in an email dated December 13, 2016. 'I do believe they will be making a request,' the individual added. Throughout the exchange the Pentagon official advised that the department treat such a request with great caution. 'The conversation started as "Can you send us some pictures of military vehicles we could add to the parade,"' the official wrote. It is standard for the Department of Defense to aid in parade planning, but usually the military provides color guards or musical groups, not large tanks. Pointing to the uniqueness of the request, the author of the email wrote, 'such support would be out of guidelines.' 'I'm extremely reluctant to produce an improvised list of military vehicles that we might be held to,' the Pentagon staffer noted. The individual also advised that, 'we as a command need an opportunity to staff this request and to make deliberate decisions about vehicle choice and configuration, paint scheme, uniform for crew members, etc., before we start providing pictures which might be regarded as binding.' The official then explains how he or she told the Presidential Inaugural Committee to formulate its request, while again reminding the recipients of the email that these plans are off the record. Sources, however, told the Huffington Post in December that Trump's team had made such a request. 'They were legit thinking Red Square/North Korea-style parade,' a source said at the time, referring to parades seen in Moscow and Pyongyang. The request would need to be approved by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Within two weeks, Trump's team had backed off. Huffington Post previously reported that there were concerns over optics and that the some 100,000 pound vehicles might batter D.C.'s roads. 'Great news,' a Pentagon official wrote on December 27, according to the new trove of emails, referring to how Trump's team had decided not to use 'military tactical vehicles' for the Pennsylvania Avenue parade. In December a Trump aide had refused to answer the Huffington Post's questions about the request on the record. The same aide then gave the publication an off-the-record denial.
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
This isn't news at all. It was reported widely at the time of the inauguration. One reason why they turned it down was that the bigger impressive military vehicles like tanks would destroy the streets around the Capitol. They aren't built for such heavy vehicle traffic. And it did sound like a bad imitation of the Red Army prancing around Red Square. Trump was really disappointed he didn't have a bigger inauguration day, I think.
New emails given to the Huffington Post show that the Presidential Inaugural Committee sought out 'military tactical vehicles' for the inaugural parade
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