Trump’s Military Parade Gives Shoutouts To Corporate Donors: ‘Special Thanks To Our Sponsor – Coinbase’
President Donald Trump’s military parade on Saturday featured 22 corporate and foundation sponsors, some of which received shoutouts over the public address system.
That included Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange that donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee in January. The following month, Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed a lawsuit against the company.
Saturday’s parade in Washington, D.C. commemorated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, and it also happened to coincide with the president’s 79th birthday. The event featured soldiers donning uniforms from different wars. At one point, the public address announcer introduced the Korean War-era uniforms. Several seconds went by before he made a completely unrelated announcement.
“Special thanks to our sponsor – Coinbase,” the announcer said.
Lockheed Martin also received a shoutout.
Twenty-two corporations and foundations sponsored the parade, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported:
Twenty two corporations and foundations are sponsoring the 250th Army Birthday Parade and Festival on the National Mall, according to the Army. General Dynamics and USAA are the presenting sponsors for the festival, which is also benefiting from a long list of companies and nonprofits including: the Gary Sinise Foundation, Bell Textron, Wounded Warrior Project Wal-Mart, GOVX, Leonardo DRS, RTX Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Leidos, Armed Forces Mutual, Boeing, First Command, General Electric Aerospace, T-Mobile, King George, InterContinental Hotels Group and the NFL.
America250 Foundation, the nonprofit organizing the U.S. Semiquincentennial celebration, recently announced it received sponsorship commitments from Oracle, Lockheed Martin, UFC, Coinbase, Palantir, Amazon, Exiger, Scott’s Miracle Gro, Phorm Energy and FedEx. Many of those companies will also be supporting Saturday’s parade, according to a press release from America250.
The event was estimated to cost between $25 million and $45 million. Washington, D.C. had not played host to a military parade since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
Saturday’s parade came on a tumultuous day that featured a political assassination, massive nationwide protests, and volleys of airstrikes between Israel and Iran.
Watch above via C-SPAN.