Trump to 'salute America' with parade on the Fourth

It started when US President Donald Trump saw a military parade on Bastille Day in 2017 in Paris. Trump has since wanted one in the nation's capital. He tried last year but that plan eventually was dropped, partly because of the estimated cost – more than $90 million — and objections from local officials because of the damage heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.

On Thursday, 243 years from when the US adopted the Declaration of Independence — July 4, 1776 — and two years since seeing the parade on the Champs-Élysées on July 14, Trump will get his parade in the nation's capital. He has dubbed it a "Salute to America."

"I'm going to be here and I'm going to say a few words and we're going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes too and we're gonna have some tanks stationed outside," Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.

As for the tanks, Trump tweeted: "You've got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks," the president acknowledged, "so we have to put them in certain areas''.

District of Columbia officials had protested the 2018 plan and they are objecting this year. "Tanks but not tanks'', the Washington City Council tweeted on Monday.

At least two tanks and other military vehicles have arrived in Washington from Georgia's Fort Stewart, according to The Associated Press. Other military hardware will be transported from bases around the country, ranging as close as Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to as far away as the Naval Air Station in California. It was not known how much the use of the military will cost.

A US defense official said that the current plan is to have a very small number of armored vehicles participate as part of a "static display" — parked — on the National Mall.

In addition to the tanks, there will be a flyover of the Lincoln Memorial by the US Navy Blue Angels and an assortment of aircraft from different branches of the military and the Air Force One plane that is used by presidents.

Trump will review the parade that goes down Constitution Avenue – without the tanks -- and have his military chiefs standing next to him. He will make a speech at 6:30 pm outside the Lincoln Memorial. The fireworks will go off just after 9 p.m.

Trump's holding the parade is an unusual move by a president. He and other presidents have previously held events at the White House to celebrate the nation's birthday.

Singer and songwriter Carole King will be one of the entertainers this year, and in a tweet to followers she said: "Just to be clear — I am appearing in 'A Capitol Fourth,' the traditional event held annually on the lawn at the Capitol. I am not participating in t's political rally."

Many Democrats and local officials have raised concerns about what they see as Trump politicizing Independence Day.