NATIONAL NEWS

DC prepares for Trump’s military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers

Jun 9, 2025, 2:55 PM | Updated: 4:20 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the nation’s capital cleans up from the culmination of World Pride this past weekend, focus now shifts to a very different massive event — Saturday’s military parade to honor the 250th birthday of the Army and the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump.

“We’re preparing for an enormous turnout,” said Matt McCool of the Secret Service’s Washington Field office, who said more than 18 miles of “anti-scale fencing” would be erected and “multiple drones” would be in the air. The entire District of Columbia is normally a no-fly zone for drones.

Army officials have estimated around 200,000 attendees for the evening military parade, and McCool said he was prepared for “hundreds of thousands” of people.

“We have a ton of magnetometers,” he said. “If a million people show up, then we’re going to have some lines.”

A total of 175 magnetometers would be used at security checkpoints controlling access to the daytime birthday festival and the nighttime parade. Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith predicted “major impacts to traffic” and advised attendees to arrive early and consider forgoing cars for the Metro.

“This is a significant event with a large footprint,” she said. “We’re relying on the public to be an extra set of ears and eyes for us.”

The military parade has been designated a National Special Security Event — similar to a presidential inauguration or state funeral. That status is reserved for events that draw large crowds and potential mass protests. It calls for an enhanced degree of high-level coordination among D.C. officials, the FBI, Capitol Police and Washington’s National Guard contingent — with the Secret Service taking the lead.

The Army birthday celebration had already been planned for months. But earlier this spring, Trump announced his intention to transform the event — which coincides with his 79th birthday — into a massive military parade complete with 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-propelled howitzers rolling through the city streets.

Multiple counter-protests of varying sizes are planned for Saturday, with the largest being a mass march to the White House dubbed the immigration-related clashes between law enforcement and protesters currently roiling Los Angeles would spread.

“We’re paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there. We’ll be ready,” McCool said. “We have a robust plan for civil disobedience.”

Agent Phillip Bates of the FBI’s Washington Field office, which is tasked with counterterrorism and crisis management, said there were “no credible threats” to the event at the moment.

Lindsey Appiah, the deputy mayor for public safety, told The Associated Press last week that the city had longstanding plans for the Army birthday celebration. But those plans “got a lot bigger on short notice” when Trump got involved.

Still, Appiah said the city has grown “very flexible, very nimble” at rolling with these sort of changes.

____

For more details, including road closures and security restrictions, go to: .

National News

Associated Press

Asian shares gain as investors keep an eye on China-US trade talks

Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday as investors kept an eye on China-U.S. trade talks that might help stave off a recession. A second day of talks was planned after U.S. and Chinese officials met in London for negotiations over various issues. The hope is that they can eventually reach a deal to reduce […]

16 minutes ago

Associated Press

Dozens of states sue to block the sale of 23andMe personal genetic data without customer consent

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm. Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits […]

39 minutes ago

Mike Lindell talks to the media on his way into federal district court for a defamation trial on Th...

Associated Press

Election conspiracy theorist sticks by false 2020 claims in defamation trial

DENVER (AP) — One of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen while testifying Monday during a defamation trial over statements he made about a former official for a leading voting equipment company. Taking the stand for the first […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

New York lawmakers approve bill that would allow medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Terminally ill New Yorkers would have the legal ability to end their own lives with pharmaceutical drugs under a bill passed Monday in the state Legislature. The proposal, which now moves to the governor’s office, would allow a person with an incurable illness to be prescribed life-ending drugs if he or […]

2 hours ago

Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Lo...

Associated Press

Trump vows to ‘HIT’ any protester who spits on police. He pardoned those who did far worse on Jan. 6

In one of his first acts of his second term as president, Donald Trumppardoned hundreds of people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to keep him in office, including those who beat police officers. On Monday, Trump posted a warning on social media to those demonstrating in Los Angeles against […]

3 hours ago

FILE - In this March 30, 2021, file photo, young unaccompanied migrants, watch television inside a ...

Associated Press

Judge orders US refugee office to reconsider some children’s cases

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Monday that the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement must reconsider the cases of some migrant children who have been stuck in government custody since the Trump administration changed the identification requirements for would-be family sponsors. The opinion from U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington, D.C., found that […]

3 hours ago

DC prepares for Trump’s military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers