Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) held a press briefing on Monday where she was asked about a report that President Trump is planning a military parade for his birthday in Washington, DC.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, ma'am.
00:02Adam Tuss.
00:03How are you?
00:04Good to see you.
00:05Can you comment on this report about President Trump wanting a military parade in the city
00:09between Arlington and D.C. this summer?
00:12First of all, can you confirm that report, that it's in the early stages?
00:15And if so, what do you think about that?
00:17I don't know if it's been characterized as a military parade, but maybe it has.
00:21I haven't been directly involved in it yet.
00:25I understand that, I think it was Homeland Security, maybe the White House, reached out
00:31to our special events task force, which is what most people wanting to do a parade do
00:38in the district.
00:39So, I would say it's at its early stages.
00:41Yes, they have reached out.
00:43I don't know if it's being characterized as a military parade.
00:46Previously, you know, the first time that the President was in office, he had talked
00:49about military tanks running down Pennsylvania Avenue.
00:52There was some pushback from the city.
00:54Would you have the same kind of pushback?
00:56Yeah, military tanks on our streets would not be good.
01:00If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars
01:05to repair the roads.
01:07And then just one final one.
01:08The other thing I'll note is I think our initial report is that it would be starting from Virginia,
01:15from Arlington.
01:16Yes, the Pentagon.
01:17Okay.
01:18Well, then it does sound like a military parade.
01:20Right.
01:21Okay.
01:22And the infrastructure, I guess, you know, the 14th Street Bridge would have to take
01:23some of that, too, whatever is planned.
01:25Yes, that would require a test.
01:29Just one more on the task force.
01:31There's also some reporting today that the task force is meeting with, you know, President
01:36Trump's task force for the district is meeting with some city officials today.
01:39Can you confirm that?
01:41And have they reached out to you for any guidance as far as, you know, what they're talking
01:45about?
01:46We will be reprioriting a written briefing to the task force on some issues that were
01:51outlined in the EO, police recruiting, for example.
01:55I think something on concealed carry, confirmation that our forensics lab is accredited, which
02:04it is.
02:05We also will, in that correspondence, emphasize the things that we really need to happen immediately
02:13to keep the city safe and beautiful.
02:15Number one, we need the house to pass the budget fix and we need it to happen this week.
02:22We also outlined what we understand recently that the NPS, the National Park Service, has
02:28been impacted by cuts and they have reduced the number of trash pickups on the mall.
02:33So we're asking them to restore, I think, three times daily trash pickups on the mall.
02:39We saw with the cherry blossom weekend, some overflowing trash cans.
02:43That's not beautiful.
02:45We want that fixed.
02:47Additionally, we outlined several fountains that are in the NPS portfolio that don't work.
02:56Getting those fixed, that's beautiful.
02:59And so we are encouraging the task force to turn their attention to that.
03:05Finally, the chief of police outlined, I asked her if this task force could help with police
03:13presence in any way, what would be the request?
03:17And the request was more patrols from park police on the parkways that are in or approach
03:23the district.
03:24George Washington Parkway, Suitland Parkway, and BW Parkway.