Trump’s parade isn’t what he was hoping for. It was a disappointing, sad affair | Moira Donegan

The uniformed soldiers marched irregularly, slightly off beat; the turnout was small and the crowd seemed defeated, low-energy and wilted

In one version of the story, you can blame the French. Evidently it was in France, watching the 2017 Bastille Day military parade alongside Emmanuel Macron at the outset of his first term, that Trump initially got the idea to stage an armed spectacle in Washington DC in honor of himself. Back then, the military said no. In a now-famous anecdote, Gen Paul Selva, who grew up in Portugal under its integralist regime, told Trump that such parades are what dictators do". James Mattis, his then-secretary of defense, reportedly revolted against the idea, saying he would rather swallow acid". Trump never got his parade.

Until now. Restored to power after an interregnum in which all American institutions failed to hold him accountable for his crimes and abuses, Trump has now set about a second term in which he is pursuing vengeance against his perceived enemies, using his office to enrich himself, and indulging all the impulses that were checked by his staffers and advisers back when anyone serious still worked for him.