Most US adults say Trump’s military parade is not a good use of money, a new poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) - As Washington prepares for a military parade this weekend to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, a new survey finds that U.S. adults are more likely to approve than disapprove of President Donald Trump’s decision to hold the festivities, which officials have said will cost tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.

But about 6 in 10 Americans also say that Saturday’s parade is "not a good use" of government money, including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The survey found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults "somewhat" or "strongly" approve of the parade, while about 3 in 10 "somewhat" or "strongly" disapprove. About 3 in 10 neither approve nor disapprove.

Carol Sue Quillen, 69, of Live Oak, Florida, said she sees the parade as a way to honor the country's service members, who she said include her late father - an Air Force test pilot killed on a helicopter training mission when she was a baby - and her son-in-law, who serves in the special forces.

"I don't necessarily think we appreciate our military as much as we should," said Quillen, a retiree who described herself as a Trump supporter - although she said the Republican president's personality "can be a bit overwhelming."

"All branches should be celebrated for what they do," Quillen said. "That just boosts morale."

Featuring hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft and thousands of soldiers, the celebration on Saturday, which also happens to be Trump's birthday, has grown extensively in scope and size since Army planners started working on a festival two years ago to mark the military branch’s anniversary. Besides a military parade - which Trump had unsuccessfully pushed for during his first term - there will also be concerts, fireworks, NFL players, fitness competitions and displays all over the National Mall for daylong festivities.

The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend and says putting on the celebration will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million.

Most Republicans, around two-thirds, approve of the event, and a similar share sees it as a good use of money, but about one-third say it's not a good use of government funds.

Democrats overwhelmingly say the parade is not a good use of public money, as do independents. And while about half of Democrats disapprove of the parade, about half of independents neither approve nor disapprove, suggesting that they may have heard less about it or have less strong feelings about it generally.

Matt Wheeler, 40, called the display "extremely wasteful" and "a bit of a performance" that "just sends a bad message" in terms of the overt military display.

"The only other time I can think about this, it's been in old throwbacks to the USSR or things you see out of North Korea," said Wheeler, who works in nonprofit fundraising in Los Angeles and described himself as a lifelong Democrat. "It's a direction this administration is inclined to move in that isn't in line with what I thought our country really was."

Sam Walters, 45, who works in restaurants in Fort Worth, Texas, described himself as a former conservative who now has more libertarian leanings. Walters, who voted for Trump in last year’s election, said he appreciated that Trump had "really kind of stuck to his guns" concerning many of the issues on which he campaigned, assessing his second term so far as "a pretty good job."

But when it comes to the military parade, Walters said he was concerned about why so much additional funding was needed for military-adjacent activities, given the country’s overall defense spending price tag.

"When they’re getting hundreds of billions a year for funding, more than for anything else, it seems kind of hard to justify them spending extra for that," Walters said, referencing the parade.

Americans are generally divided on whether the government is devoting too much money to the military. About 3 in 10 say the government is spending "too much" on the military, while a similar share says the government is spending "too little." About 4 in 10 say the government is spending "about the right amount." Those numbers are largely unchanged from an AP-NORC poll conducted in January.

About 4 in 10 Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, which is unchanged from an AP-NORC poll conducted last month. Approval of his handling of immigration, at 46%, continues to be higher than approval of his handling of the economy or trade negotiations with other countries, which both landed at 38%. (The poll was conducted from June 5-9.)

Andrew Thomsen, 31, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, said that he has voted for Trump in general elections and that he would "generally approve" of the direction in which the country is headed.

Thomsen, who works in education, said that, while he appreciates any intent of the parade and associated events "to celebrate those who have given of themselves to the service of our protection," he wasn't a fan of attempts to show off U.S. military might.

"If it is a march of rows and rows of members from our different branches while showboating our tanks, missile systems, and other equipment to show how strong we are, then I don't support that," he said.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,158 adults was conducted June 5-9, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.