Majority of Americans Oppose Spending Taxpayer Dollars on Trump’s Military Birthday Soiree
As many Americans struggle to make ends meet — including military families and veterans who have found themselves fired thanks to this year’s massive cuts to the federal government — a new poll shows that 2 in 3 adults are opposed to spending taxpayer dollars on Saturday’s military birthday soiree for President Donald Trump.
According to a survey conducted between May and June by the NBC News Decision Desk, 64% of American adults said they were opposed to the use of government funds for the military parade that Trump has ordered to roll through Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
A celebration to ring in the Army’s 250th anniversary had been in the works since 2023, but it wasn’t until after Trump officially returned to the White House that a parade down Constitution Avenue — replete with a presidential viewing stand en route and a ceremony near the White House where parachuting troops will deliver him a flag — was added to the program.
According to the poll, 88% of Democrats and 72% of independents oppose using government funds for the parade. Among Republicans, 65% supported using government funds for the event.
Trump’s most diehard supporters in the “Make America Great Again” movement overwhelmingly approved of using taxpayer dollars, but there was some wiggle room, with the approval rating sitting at 75%. Among those Republicans who don’t consider themselves MAGA adherents, the support for the spending spree was lower, at 56%.
Roughly 20,000 people were surveyed.
Trump has been unabashed in his excitement for the parade and the ensuing legion of tanks, marching soldiers and helicopters for some time. He has twice been denied a military parade due to the huge cost and concerns about damaging the streets of Washington, D.C. At least $16 million for street damage is priced into the $45 million estimated cost for the parade.
Democratic lawmakers, like Iraq war veteran and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, have said the Army would be better celebrated, and its servicemembers better honored, if the government would allot tens of millions of dollars to tuition reimbursement or child care for military families.
“There are lots of ways to celebrate the Army’s birthday without blowing it all on a parade,” Duckworth said during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.
