Trump slams hefty price tag for DC military parade, will spend $900k on flight to Paris instead — RT US News

The city of Washington DC wanted an obscene amount of cash to host a now-shelved military parade, Donald Trump has tweeted. Instead, the president will honor the troops with a fiscally responsible $140k per hour flight to Paris.

Commenting on reports that a military parade planned for November in the nation’s capital had been put on hold until next year, Trump placed the blame squarely on Washington DC’s money-grubbing city government.

READ MORE: Trump’s grand military parade postponed until next year

“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you up!,” Trump tweeted on Friday. “I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!”

The White House estimated earlier this year that the parade would cost the taxpayer between $10 million and $30 million. However, Reuters cites unnamed officials saying the parade’s actual price tag could be three to nine times higher, at $92 million.

But flying Trump to Paris to celebrate the end of World War I is far from a frugal alternative. Air Force One – the flying White House that ferries the president to destinations all over the world – is not exactly a budget airline: operating the 747 jumbo jet costs an estimated $140k per hour. At a cruising speed of 557mph, it would take Air Force One around 6.5 hours to reach Paris. So the flight alone will cost American taxpayers around $910,000. That’s before Trump even touches French soil. Then there are the expenses associated with ground transport, security and accommodation for Trump and his entourage. 

But it’s Trump’s excitement over the possibility of buying more fighter jets that should worry taxpayers the most. If the president is referring to the F-35, a single fighter jet goes for around $100 million, depending on the model.

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Via RT. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.