U.S. Army
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The Trump administration is reportedly in the early stages of planning an elaborate military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Army on June 14. What has some questioning the move is the fact that President Donald Trump turns 79 on that same day.
CNN reports that, according to two Defense Department officials, the Trump administration is floating a preliminary plan to hold a lavish parade to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed to local outlet Washington City Paper that her administration is in talks with the White House regarding the parade.
“I haven’t been directly involved in it yet,” Bowser said to a throng of reporters, according to CNN. “I understand that – I think it was Homeland Security, maybe the White House – reached out to our special events task force, which is what most people wanting to do a parade do in the district. So, I would say it’s at its early stages. Yes, they have reached out. I don’t know if it’s being characterized as a military parade.”
In 2018, President Trump floated the idea of a military parade that would’ve cost north of $92 million and cost up to $21 million in public safety measures to control the parade. At the time, Trump wanted the parade as a display of America’s military might, but canceled the plans after the high costs and resistance from Mayor Bowser ended the elaborate parade.
Plans for some sort of acknowledgement of the Army’s anniversary were well underway before Trump won the election last November, yet a parade was not on the docket. Should this plan go ahead as envisioned, the parade will begin at the Pentagon in Arlington, stretching from the Northern Virginia city to the White House.
Outside observers are naturally wondering if this celebration would indeed take place on Trump’s birthday, and the enormity of the costs, along with the potential damage to D.C. streets from the heavy tanks, is also a concern.
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SXSW will no longer engage in partnerships with the U.S. Army or weapons manufacturers, the event announced Wednesday (June 26). “After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model,” reads a statement posted to the SXSW website. “As a result, the U.S. Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of […]
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The Army is proceeding with the exclusion of Jonathan Majors from its upcoming slate of new ads after his recent arrest for alleged assault.
Sources have confirmed that the Army is close to releasing new advertisements in its recent campaign that exclude the actor in time for them to air during the NCAA’s Final Four men’s and women’s games this weekend. The ads were also set up to appear online and through social media platforms along with being displayed on digital and physical billboards. The purchase is estimated at $117 million.
Jonathan Majors, who currently stars in Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, was brought on to feature in the advertisements due to his high appeal, especially with a younger demographic. The Army’s aim of enlisting 60,000 recruits last year fell woefully under its goal by 25%. The new campaign, a revitalization of the “Be All You Can Be” slogan, first debuted in 1981 and was the hallmark of the armed force for two decades.
Congressional lawmakers did note the situation in a meeting held by the House of Representatives Appropriation defense subcommittee. “I see you had a bit of bad luck on your ‘Be All You Can Be’ commercial,” said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the chairman of the committee to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Gen. James McConville, the Army’s chief of staff. “Hopefully you’re cutting a new commercial and getting it online as quickly as possible.”
“A majority of that content did not contain our main narrator. … So we have a ton of content to go back to, to create basically new commercials new ads, if we need to,” U.S. Army marketing head Major General Alex Fink said in a statement to the press issued Wednesday (March 30). “The campaign is full steam ahead.”
The 33-year-old actor was arrested Saturday (March 25), in New York City and charged with strangulation, assault and harassment. Representatives for the New York Police Department state he was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman. Majors’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, has stated that there’s evidence clearing Majors whom she states is “the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.” Majors is expected back in court May 8.
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