As the 250th anniversary of the United States Army approaches, which also coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, Washington is preparing to mark the occasion with a large-scale military parade featuring thousands of U.S. soldiers, Army vehicles, planes, and fireworks on June 14, 2025. However, concerns are growing as the cost of this event continues to rise, with the current estimate totaling approximately $45 million. Others worry that such a grand display of military hardware ordered by Trump potentially politicizes the military and smacks of authoritarian optics. New research from a recent PRRI survey of more than 5,000 adults shows that few Americans support this planned military celebration.[1]
Most Americans (76%) oppose spending $45 million to hold a large parade of soldiers, weapons, and combat vehicles on the streets of Washington, D.C., in celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday and President Trump’s birthday, including 48% who strongly oppose, compared with only 21% who are in favor. Solid majorities of Democrats (93%) and independents (80%) oppose the military parade, as well as a slim majority of Republicans (52%). Even among Americans who hold favorable views of Trump, a slim majority opposes this event (52%).
Vast majorities across all religious groups oppose this military parade, although opposition is higher among non-white religious Americans and the religiously unaffiliated. More than eight in ten Hispanic Catholic (87%), Black Protestant (85%), other non-Christian (84%), and religiously unaffiliated (84%) Americans oppose the parade. Opposition is high among both Hispanic Protestants (78%) and Jewish Americans (78%) as well. While white Christian groups express less opposition, roughly two-thirds or more of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (72%), white Catholics (65%), and white evangelical Protestants (64%) oppose this military parade. While still a majority, Latter-Day Saints (55%) are the least likely to express opposition.
Even among Trump’s most ardent supporters — those Americans who qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers — solid majorities oppose the military parade (58% and 62%, respectively). Opposition is much higher among those who qualify as Christian nationalism Skeptics (80%) or Rejecters (95%).
Around eight in ten AAPI (84%), Hispanic (83%), and Black (81%) Americans oppose the military parade, compared with 72% of white Americans and 62% of multiracial Americans.
Though majorities of both men and women oppose the parade, men are less likely than women to oppose it (73% vs. 79%), as are Americans without a college degree compared with those with a college degree (74% vs. 82%). Millennials are the most likely to oppose the military parade (82%), followed by Gen Zers (77%), baby boomers (74%), Gen Xers (73%), and members of the Silent Generation (66%).
[1] This survey was designed and conducted by PRRI. View the survey topline here. The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 5,024 adults (age 18 and up) living in all 50 states in the United States who are part of Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, and an additional 412 who were recruited by Ipsos using opt-in survey panels to increase the sample sizes in smaller states. Interviews were conducted online between May 16-28, 2025. The margin of error for the national survey is +/- 1.76 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence, including the design effect for the survey of 1.8. In addition to sampling error, surveys may also be subject to error or bias due to question wording, context, and order effects. Additional details about the KnowledgePanel can be found on the Ipsos website: ipsos.com/en-us/solution/knowledgepanel
