BIG GUNS

Trump Team Wanted Military Tactical Vehicles for Inaugural Parade

Pentagon demurred, according to FOIA emails.

President Trump’s White House transition staff asked the Pentagon for images of the types of military tactical vehicles he could use for his inaugural parade, according to internal emails from Dec. 13. The Huffington Post obtained the emails in a Freedom of Information Act request in order to corroborate a January story that the real-estate mogul’s staff had explored deploying heavy military equipment in the celebration. The Presidential Inaugural Committee “is seriously considering adding military vehicles to the Inaugural Parade,” a Pentagon official wrote. “The conversation started as ‘Can you send us some pictures of military vehicles we could add to the parade,’” the official wrote. The Trump team evidently made the Pentagon official uncomfortable with the request, the emails show: “I explained that such support would be out of guidelines, and the costs associated with bringing military vehicles to the [National Capital Region] would be considered reimbursable.”