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3 takeaways from the military parade and No Kings protests on Trump's birthday

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3 takeaways from the military parade and No Kings protests on Trump's birthday


Members of the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” watch fireworks at the end of a military parade commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP


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The U.S. Army celebrated its 250th anniversary on Saturday with a massive military parade in Washington, D.C., against a backdrop of political division and protests savaging President Trump rippling across the country.

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Trump, whose 79th birthday corresponded with the Army anniversary, had long dreamed of holding such a display of America’s military might.

The parade stirred up controversy for what opponents view as a politicization of the nation’s armed forces and a break from U.S. democratic norms, and sparked an organized No Kings protest movement across the country on Saturday.

Here’s how the day unfolded.

1. Stormy clouds didn’t rain on the parade

Despite threats of lightning and storms rolling into D.C., the parade went ahead as advertised.

It featured dozens of armored tanks and artillery vehicles, such as HIMARS, army aircraft, including Black Hawk helicopters and Apaches, and more than 6,000 uniformed troops. The idea was to walk viewers through the history of American military conflict, with some historical uniforms and vehicles being used.

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Armored vehicles drive during the Army 250th Anniversary Parade in Washington, DC on June 14, 2025.

Armored vehicles drive during the Army 250th Anniversary Parade in Washington, DC on June 14, 2025.

Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images


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Members of the U.S Army parade down Constitution Avenue, representing the Revolutionary War era.

Members of the U.S Army parade down Constitution Avenue, representing the Revolutionary War era.

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Additionally, 34 horses, two mules and one dog — a Blue Heeler named Doc Holliday — joined the march.

Mike Davis, a 30-year Army serviceman who was at the parade as a spectator, said he welcomed the flashy affair — that the military had been overdue for a big bash.

“The last time we’ve had a military parade of any sorts, I recall, is the Gulf War,” Davis said. “So, it’s been a long time and what better way to celebrate it than the 250th?”

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Davis said that protests against the event cast a pall on what he thought should be a celebratory occasion, but that he also backed people’s First Amendment rights to speak out.

“We go to war and defend the nation’s rights for the citizens to do things like that, so more power to it,” he said.

The weekend festivities came with an expected price tag of between $25 million and $45 million, according to Army spokesperson Heather J. Hagan. That includes planned road repairs due to possible damage from tanks rolling on city streets.

2. Trump got the thing he has wanted for years

Trump wanted to hold the parade during his first term, but it was scrapped because it was deemed too expensive. He was inspired after attending the annual Bastille Day parade in France in 2017. That parade celebrates French mobs taking over the Bastille state prison in 1789. 

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In closing remarks following Saturday’s procession, he hailed the Army as the “greatest, fiercest and bravest fighting force” the world had ever seen. 


President rump stands and salutes, flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and First Lady Melania Trump.

President rump stands and salutes, flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and First Lady Melania Trump.

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“The Army keeps us free, you make us strong, and tonight you’ve made all Americans very proud,” he said. “Every other country celebrates their victories. It’s about time America did too. That’s what we’re doing tonight.”

After his speech, Trump was presented with a traditionally folded American flag — a gift usually reserved for the family members of fallen soldiers.

Since the parade was announced, there has been sharp criticism, particularly from Democratic lawmakers who called the showcase self-indulgent and a misuse of public funds.

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“To use the military in this manner when Donald Trump is slashing veterans’ benefits to aggrandize himself, to communicate to the country his control over the military, is just another shameful act of this administration,” said Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

Other critics have said it’s a display of military force typically associated with autocratic governments in places like Russia or North Korea.

“It’s a vulgar display,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said during a news conference on Friday. “It’s the kind of thing you see Kim Jong Un, you see Putin, you see with dictators around the world that are weak.”

3. Protests spring up across the country

No Kings protests rippled peacefully across dozens of cities in the U.S.

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Organizers estimated that more than 5 million people participated in more 2,000 planned protests, according to spokesperson Eunic Ortiz. While protests were peaceful, police in Culpeper, Va., arrested a man who “intentionally accelerated his vehicle into the dispersing crowd,” at the end of a protest. One person was hit, but no one was hurt, police said.

Tens of thousands marched peacefully in Philadelphia, where organizers were holding their main event, police said. Philadelphia was chosen as the hub, because “there’s an indelible link between Philadelphia and between the freedoms and the ideals that the country was founded upon,” said Joel Payne, spokesperson for MoveOn, one of the dozens of groups behind the No Kings protests.


Demonstrators hold signs as they march down Dolores street protesting the Trump administration during the No Kings rally in San Franscisco, Californina on June 14, 2025, on the same day as President Trump's military parade in Washington, DC. In response to the military parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US Army but also coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday, a "No Kings" movement has sprung up promising to stage protests in more than 2,000 places across the country, including a large parade expected in Los Angeles which organizers say will feature a "20-foot-tall balloon of Trump wearing a diaper." (Photo by Nic Coury / AFP) (Photo by NIC COURY/AFP via Getty Images)

Demonstrators hold signs as they march down Dolores street protesting the Trump administration during the No Kings rally in San Franscisco, Californina on June 14.

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A protestor holds a placard during a march down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art during a nationwide No Kings rally in Philadelphia on Saturday.

A protestor holds a placard during a march down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art during a nationwide No Kings rally in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Erin Blewett/AFP via Getty Images


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Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, another No Kings coordinator, said the atmosphere at the event was joyful.

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“Today what I saw was a boisterous, peaceful display of First Amendment rights,” he told NPR.

Thousands were at a Dallas protest, one of more than 60 planned in Texas, KERA reported. In Alaska, the theme was, “The only king I want is king salmon,” Alaska Public Media reported.

Shahera Hyatt of Sacramento made signs for her local event that read, “From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go,” and “ICE, you’re fired.”

“I decided to go because I feel like with unchecked authority, Trump has led America into clear fascism,” she told NPR.

There were some feelings of unease amid the protesters, some of whom turned off their phones and avoided posting to social media.

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“It does feel like there’s a vendetta against people who are exercising their rights to speak up against this administration,” said protester Ali Schoenberger of Sacramento. “So I feel like it’s important to protect my fellow protestors today and not expose them or even have it on my phone.”


Protesters rally in front of City Hall in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Protesters rally in front of City Hall in Los Angeles on Saturday.

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“I am completely terrified of what’s going on in our country,” said protester Margo Ross of Watsonville, Calif. “I believe from the beginning it’s been a coup and a fascist overthrow, and I keep thinking, ‘Well, it can’t get worse.’ And then it gets worse and worse.”

Separately, U.S. Capitol Police said they arrested 60 protesters Friday evening after some pushed down barriers and ran toward the steps of the Rotunda. They say all 60 will be charged with unlawful demonstration and crossing a police line. Additional charges include assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. The groups behind the protests didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The No Kings demonstrations were put together by a coalition of more than 200 organizations, including MoveOn, the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers and the Communications Workers of America. Protests were not planned in Washington, D.C., where the military parade was held.

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Washington, D.C

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

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Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week


4 things to know about the weather:

  1. Chances of rain in the morning
  2. Gusty Sunday
  3. Chilly Monday
  4. Temps will rise again through the work week

Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.

After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.

The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.

Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.

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However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.

QuickCast

SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s

MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s

Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.



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Washington, D.C

‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

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‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington


The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.

In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.

“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”

Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.

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Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.

“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.

“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”

Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”

A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.

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Rachel Reeves posted this image on Instagram from Washington DC on Thursday with the message: ‘Friends that run together – work together.’ Photograph: Rachel Reeves/Instagram

Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.

Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.

But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.

“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”

At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.

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The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.

Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.

For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.

“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.

“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”

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For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.

In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.

Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.

“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”





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Washington, D.C

Rosselli opens in DC, serving classic Italian flavors from chef Carlos

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Rosselli opens in DC, serving classic Italian flavors from chef Carlos


Rosselli is the newest restaurant to open in DC.

Bringing in classic Italian flavors, Chef Carlos explained how he hopes his food is a unique addition to the Italian food scene in the DMV.

Chef also demoed a signature dish with Brian and Megan.

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