21 photos of military parades for Trump's authoritarian vision board.

Pinterest for the aspirational autocrat.

 Parker Molloy
02.07.18

In France last summer, Donald Trump saw a parade. Now, in true Trump fashion, he wants one of his own.

Back before he called members of Congress who refused to clap for him "treasonous," Trump traveled to France at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron to take in the country's annual Bastille Day military parade. There was pomp, circumstance, and of course, a bunch of big guns that go boom. Trump was thrilled, publicly talking about how much fun he had months later — but that's not all. According to a report in the Washington Post, he's been privately obsessing over the idea of ordering the military to throw him the same sort of parade, right here in Washington.

"The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France," the Post quotes a military official.

Trump and Macron watch the 2017 Bastille Day parade in France. Photo by Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images.

There's a big difference between the Bastille Day parade and whatever it is that Trump wants for himself — namely, tradition.

The Bastille Day parade dates back to 1880 and has a rich tradition. While it is heavily intertwined with the country's military, it's not in itself intended as a display of toughness or signal of warning to other countries. At the United Nations General Assembly in September, however, Trump spoke about how the parade was such a great show of "military might," pledging to top it. In other words, he completely missed the point.

Macron listens while Trump gushes over the Bastille Day parade — more than two months afterward. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

In fairness to Trump, there's actually a really long history of world leaders obsessed with demonstrating "military might" by way of parade — and they're not exactly as chill as Macron.

Check out a few highlights below.

Hitler and Stalin were both big fans of military parades.

Adolf Hitler salutes soldiers at a Nazi parade in Nuremberg in 1938. Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images.

In May 1947, these Heavy artillery are on parade during a review of the Moscow Garrison troops in the May Day celebrations at Red Square.  Photo by N. Sitnikov/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Saddam Hussein considered himself a bit of a parade connoisseur as well.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein watching a military parade in 2000. Photo by Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images.

Iraqi tanks roll through the streets of Baghdad in December 2000. Photo by Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images.

China, Iran, Cuba, and Egypt like to get in on the action too.

A 1999 photo shows members of China's People's Liberation Army passing in front of Tianamen Square. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

An Iranian surface-to-surface missile rides past a photo of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a 2008 parade. Photo by Majid/Getty Images.

This 1965 photo, taken in Havana, depicts the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Hosni Mubarak watches Egyptian soldiers march outside Cairo in 1998.  Photo by Amr Nabil/AFP/Getty Images.

Don't forget about Malaysia, Guinea, Greece, or Myanmar.

In 2013, Malaysian military tanks roll down the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Photo by Mohd RasfanAFP/Getty Images.

Guinean soldiers ride along the streets of Conakry in 2013. Photo by Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty Images.

Greek soldiers celebrate "Oxi" Day in 2014. Photo by Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP/Getty Images.

Here's a look at Myanmar soldiers celebrating their Independence Day in 2015. Photo by Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images.

Of course, there's also India, Pakistan, Russia, and Sri Lanka.

Indian military personnel tanks parade through New Delhi in 2014. Photo by Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images.

Members of the Pakistani military drive tanks in a 2015 parade. Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images.

Russian tanks roll through Minsk during a World War II victory parade, in 2015. Photo by Host photo agency/RIA Novosti, via Getty Images.

Sri Lankan army tanks parade during the country's 68th Independence Day celebration in 2015. Photo by Lakruwan WanniarachchiAFP/Getty Images.

And be sure to remember Lebanon, Belarus, Nicaragua, Romania, and finally, "little rocket man" himself, Kim Jong Un in North Korea.

A Lebanese M60 tank drives in a military parade in Beirut in 2016. Photo by Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images.

Balarus soldiers participate in the country's annual Independence Day parade in 2017. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

Nicaraguan soldiers ride T-72 tanks during a 2017 parade. Photo by Inti Ocon/AFP/Getty Images.

Romanian tanks participate in a military parade to celebrate the National Day of Romania in 2017. Photo by Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images.

Members of the North Korean People's Army ride tanks through Pyongyang as a show of strength in 2017. Photo by Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images.

If these types of parades all seem like a huge waste of time, energy, and money in a purportedly democratic nation like ours, that's because they are.

Throwing parades to demonstrate "military might" seems to be a common thread among insecure male world leaders desperate to prove the size of their "gun" is bigger than their rival's. The last time the U.S. held a military parade of any sort was in 1991 when soldiers returned home to declare victory following the Gulf War. The cost that time around, according to The New York Times, was about $12 million, with $7 million paid with federal funds.

There's little doubt Trump's proposed parade would be even more expensive.

Another concern people are already bringing up is the effect that rolling a bunch of 70-ton tanks down Pennsylvania Avenue might have on the roads themselves. The Washington Post suggests that Trump will try to frame this as a show of appreciation for our military, but when you consider that his rationale for trying to ban transgender troops from joining the military was the "tremendous medical costs" and realize that the cost of this parade (assuming it runs on roughly the same budget as the 1991 edition) would exceed even the top-end estimates of what trans people actually cost the military or that he once brushed off criticism over a fallen soldier by saying "he knew what he signed up for," it becomes clear this isn't about showing support for troops at all. It's about throwing himself a big proto-authoritarian party.

No, Trump's occasionally authoritarian musings don't make him equivalent with any of the countries or leaders in the list above, but it's becoming inarguable to suggest that he doesn't share a bit of their autocratic flair.

military places trump world leaders parades authoritarianism
Most Shared

How Trump and Obama handled MAGA chants shows how much American politics has changed in just three years.

Can we send HIM back?

PBS NewsHour/YouTube (left) The Guardian (right)

I'm staring at my screen watching the President of the United States speak before a stadium full of people in North Carolina. He launches into a lie-laced attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and the crowd boos. Soon they start chanting, "Send her back! Send her back! Send her back!"

The President does nothing. Says nothing. He just stands there and waits for the crowd to finish their outburst.

WATCH: Trump rally crowd chants 'send her back' after he criticizes Rep. Ilhan Omar www.youtube.com

My mind flashes to another President of the United States speaking to a stadium full of people in North Carolina in 2016. A heckler in the crowd—an old man in uniform holding up a TRUMP sign—starts shouting, disrupting the speech. The crowd boos. Soon they start chanting, "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!"

Keep Reading Show less
donald trump barack obama racism send them back immigration the squad congress
Recommended

France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

via EarthFix / Flickr

What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?

Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.

According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.

Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.

Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.

Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.

This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.

"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.

It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.

"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."

Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.

"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.

However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.

france food waste recycling charity
Planet

A mom told women they shouldn't wear leggings for her sons' sake and instead got a lesson on not policing women's bodies.

Policing women's bodies — and by consequence their clothes — is nothing new to women across the globe. But this mother's "legging problem" is particularly ridiculous.

What someone wears, regardless of gender, is a personal choice. Sadly, many folks like Maryann White, mother of four sons, think women's attire — particularly women's leggings are a threat to men.

While sitting in mass at the University of Notre Dame, White was aghast by the spandex attire the young women in front of her were sporting.

Keep Reading Show less
More

Men share times when they've stood up to misogynistic behavior.

Men are sharing examples of how they step up and step in when they see problematic behaviors in their peers, and people are here for it.

Twitter user "feminist next door" posed an inquiry to her followers, asking "good guys" to share times they saw misogyny or predatory behavior and did something about it. "What did you say," she asked. "What are your suggestions for the other other men in this situation?" She added a perfectly fitting hashtag: #NotCoolMan.

Not only did the good guys show up for the thread, but their stories show how men can interrupt situations when they see women being mistreated and help put a stop to it.

Keep Reading Show less
Culture