Trump threatens potential military parade protesters with ‘very big force’

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLNE) — Authorities are bracing for possible protests during Saturday’s military parade, the “No Kings Day” protests are being planned nationwide.

Sources say Saturday’s parade could cost taxpayers $45 million, according to ABC News Reporter Perry Russom.

Wednesday morning, tanks and armored vehicles now line some streets in the nation’s capital, ready to roll for Saturday’s military parade.

Sources say mounted rocket launchers will be on display, along with 6,000 soldiers and a 50-aircraft flyover.

“Saturday is going to be a big day in Washington, D.C.,” said President Donald Trump.

Officials insist the parade is solely to mark the army’s 250th birthday, but the timing is hard to ignore: Saturday is also Trump’s 79th birthday.

He has a warning for any protesters: “If there’s any protesters who want to come out, they will be met with very big force,” said Trump.

One organizer of No Kings Day, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, is now responding to Trump’s threat.

“Look, Donald Trump is a bully, and what bullies do and what authoritarians do is they create fear because they are hopeful that in the language that they use to basically bully you into into submission, into basically being silent,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers.

President Trump’s push for a military parade may have been inspired abroad.

In 2017, he attended France’s annual Bastille Day Celebrations, later calling it “one of the greatest parades” he’d ever seen.