Most of the District of Columbia’s cost to host President Trump’s military parade would have come down to policing, according to a breakdown the city provided Friday.
The D.C. police department alone would have required nearly $13.5 million of the $21.6 million estimated cost to the district. Another estimate leaked Thursday put the total parade cost for the Trump administration at $92 million instead of the $10 million-30 million estimated earlier in the year, which would also have included transporting military equipment and personnel to the city.
Trump said Friday that the D.C. government was looking for a “windfall” payment from the administration to host the event originally planned for Nov. 10, which he then canceled Friday morning due to the price tag.
“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,” Trump 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. Never let someone hold you up! I will instead…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2018
….attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2018
The tweet came just hours after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis laughed off a report that the whole parade could cost as much as $92 million, and claimed no new cost estimate existed.
“Whoever told you that is probably smoking something that is legal in my state, but not in most states. … I’m not dignifying that number with any reply. I would discount that. And anybody who said that, I almost guarantee you one thing, they probably said ‘I need to stay anonymous.’ No kidding, because you look like an idiot,” Mattis said while traveling in South America. “And No. 2, whoever wrote it needs to get better sources. I’ll just leave it at that. But I don’t know who wrote it. I haven’t seen it. But I guarantee you there’s been no cost estimate.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser shot back at Trump Friday morning, saying the $21.6 million cost reflects the “realities” of the parade.
Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad). https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx
— MurielBowser (@MurielBowser) August 17, 2018
The district’s $13.5 million policing costs would cover public safety, crime prevention, crowd control and traffic perimeters, as well as airspace security and protection for dignitaries.
Its departments of fire and transportation would also required a combined $5.8 million to provide traffic control and emergency services, according to the district estimate.
