President Donald Trump has once again rebuked weather forecasters for predicting rain on his birthday military parade, raising the issue at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Canada.
During a photo opportunity with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife, Trump brought up the parade forecast.
“We had the parade the other day. They said 100 percent chance of rain. It didn’t rain,” Trump told Carney as the Canadian prime minister smiled politely.
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Saturday’s parade—expected to cost up to $45 million, according to conservative estimates—was meant to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army, but it also coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday, sparking criticism that the president was hijacking the event.
In the leadup to the parade, the National Weather Service had predicted rain—and possibly thunderstorms—in Washington, D.C., just as the tanks and troops rolled in. However, in the end, there was only a slight drizzle, summer mugginess, and, according to some attendees, low energy.
The G7 summit was not the first time Trump railed against the parade’s weather forecast, which limited turnout. On his way to Canada on Sunday, he described the night as “a tremendous success with a fantastic audience,” adding, “It was supposed to rain. They gave it a 100% chance of rain, and it didn’t rain at all. It was beautiful.”
While the administration has been at pains to portray the event as a “tremendous success,” footage showed sparse crowds, with the overall size far fewer than the “No Kings” protests that also took place across the country that day.
At one point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was caught on camera yawning and looking bored as he sat in the viewing stand near the president, with one arm casually draped over a chair.
Social media also lit up with photos of First Lady Melania Trump resting her eyes at various intervals, while Trump’s eldest and favorite daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were no-shows.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also talked up the event, only to be ridiculed on social media for seemingly inflating the crowd size.
“Amazing. Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the @USArmy,” Cheung posted to X on Saturday night. “God Bless the USA!”
By comparison, data journalist G. Elliot Morris estimated that 4 million to 6 million people joined the nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration, making it one of the largest protests in U.S. history.
Trump had long dreamed of holding a parade showcasing America’s military might, and this one featured a steady stream of Abrams battle tanks, a fleet of armored Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, as well as Black Hawk, Apache, and Chinook helicopters.
Cleanup crews have spent the past few days returning the nation’s capital to normalcy, but Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it may take another few days for the city to assess road damage.
“We will evaluate with the utility companies any issues that we are aware of,” she said. “If we have to make any repairs, we would submit that as part of the reimbursement process for national security events.”
She added that she had watched the parade after a day at Chuck E. Cheese celebrating a child’s birthday party and was thrilled to see the Army Golden Knights parachute team display the D.C. flag as they parachuted down.
“I was very happy,” said the Democratic mayor, who has gone out of her way to stay on Trump’s good side this year. “I thought it was a nice touch.”
