Donald Trump's America

Trump hoped for a parade to rival Bastille Day, instead he got small crowds and soggy tanks

The heavy rain that fell on his Fourth of July event made the tanks look a little sad.

By the President's own metrics — crowd size and TV ratings — the show fell short of expectations too.

Only one network took the speech live and the crowd size was measured in the thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands promised by Mr Trump.

For those who were there, the audio was muffled and even a short distance from the stage, many couldn't hear Mr Trump speak.

Unlike the deep national affection for Bastille Day in France, America's birth of revolutionary nationhood has long been apolitical.

The one exception in recent history took place in 1970 when President Richard Nixon's event to honour America ended in tear gas and fistfights with Vietnam War protesters.

This time around, the President's critics slammed the cost of the parade and the autocratic undertones of displaying tanks in the street.

Protesters were there too, dragging along with them a giant balloon called the Trump Baby.

Some Americans also told me that it was jarring to see tanks in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

It is one of Washington DC's most beautiful memorials and means different things to many people.

Commonly it's a symbol of the tragedy of war rather than military might.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-05/donald-trumps-dream-of-a-parade-to-rival-bastille-day-washed-out/11276750