Nationwide protests loom over Trump's upcoming military parade

Donald Trump is getting the parade he wanted showcasing America’s military power — but he’ll also be getting mass protests exposing the nation’s divisions.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is getting the parade he wanted showcasing America’s military power — but he’ll also be getting mass protests exposing the nation’s partisan divisions.

The tanks and artillery launchers rolling through Washington on Saturday will honor the Army’s 250th anniversary, which falls on the day Trump turns 79.

About 7,000 soldiers will march. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line up along Constitution Avenue on the co-birthdays and cheer. Trump is set to watch the spectacle from a viewing stand south of the White House.

But in Washington and in all 50 states, organizers will be staging protests that could dwarf the parade in size. A coalition of pro-democracy, labor and liberal activists is arranging a full day of counterprogramming to make the case that Trump is hijacking the Army celebration to venerate himself.

Workers install security fencing on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.Jacquelyn Martin / AP“The goal here is to deprive Trump of what he wants in this moment, which is a story about him being the all-powerful political figure of our time, and instead create a contrast with normal, everyday people demonstrating that power in this country still resides with the people,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, who is helping organize what participants have dubbed a nationwide “No Kings” demonstration.