Military parade or birthday party? Who are the giants sponsoring the US military parade?

Deng Tong, Golden Finance

On June 14, 2025, US President Trump held a military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US military. Coincidence, this day also coincides with Trump's 79th birthday. The parade is the largest military parade in decades in Washington, with dozens of tanks and tanks passing through Washington streets and nearly 7,000 soldiers participating in the parade. The military parade even held a birthday celebration for Trump. When Trump arrived at the scene, 21 salutes sounded and the crowd shouted "Happy birthday to you."

But at the same time, anti-Trump demonstrations have also occurred across the United States. People hold up signs that “Trump must step down.”

Who sponsored this military parade? The military parade became Trump’s birthday party? Is Trump still popular with the public?

1. Who are the giants sponsoring this military parade?

It is reported that the president's military parade costs as much as $45 million.

According to the U.S. Army, 22 companies and foundations sponsored the military parade and celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Army in the National Mall. General Dynamics and USAA are designated sponsors of the celebration, and a number of businesses and nonprofits are also involved, including: the Gary Sinis Foundation, Bairdsillon, Walmart Disabled Warrior Program, GOVX, Leonardo DRS, RTX, Lockheed Martin, Leidos, Armed Forces Mutual Insurance, Boeing, First Command, General Electric Aerospace, T-Mobile, King George Hotel, InterContinental Hotels and the NFL.

America250 Foundation, a non-profit organization that organizes the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United States, announced that the event was sponsored by Oracle, Lockheed Martin, UFC, Coinbase, Palantir, Amazon, Exiger, Scott's Miracle Gro, Phorm Energy and FedEx. The host even gave Coinbase a special thanks to "our special sponsor Coinbase". This is also the first time that the cryptocurrency exchange has appeared at such a solemn military parade.

Although this military parade is called to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US military, it is actually accused of being tied to Trump 's personal political image. The technology community believes that funding for the activities has caused public relations risks and public opinion controversy.

2. Military parade or birthday party?

Not only is the issue of sponsorship arousing controversy, but there are also many controversies about the actions of celebrating Trump’s birthday at the military parade.

The military parade was privately called "Trump's birthday parade" by some government officials, fulfilling the president's long-standing desire to hold a grand military parade. The parade set out from the Pentagon in Virginia, and the troops participating in the parade—to commemorate the American War of Independence, the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Global War on Terror—must walk about two and a half miles.

Trump held an oath ceremony for 250 recruits and restored soldiers. Trump said: "Welcome to the U.S. Army and wish you a happy life. Thank you very much. I wish you a happy life."

In his speech, Vance pointed out: "June 14 is of course the birthday of the US Army. Of course, it is also the birthday of the US President. Happy birthday to Mr. President. This is also my wedding anniversary."

There were audience members singing a happy birthday song for Trump near the stage.

Trump has long been very concerned about the size of attendance at his event, and he has repeatedly claimed that his first inauguration was the largest inauguration in U.S. history.

But is this event really "big and beautiful"?

not necessarily.

On the one hand, as it was planned, on the day of the military parade, the "No Kings" event was held in 2,000 locations across the United States to express their anger towards the president and criticize Trump for overreaching his power in his second term. About 20,000 people gathered in downtown Los Angeles, and despite law enforcement using non-lethal weapons during earlier protests and the president sent troops to escalate the situation, they remained unhindered.

At the demonstration, congressmen, union leaders and activists from New York, Philadelphia, Houston and other places delivered speeches to the masses. People on the scene waved the American flag and raised slogans criticizing Trump.

Law enforcement largely did not intervene in protesters for most of the day, but they fired tear gas in the Atlanta area and arrested eight people.

On the other hand, the situation on the scene may not be satisfactory. It is reported that the event has caused most areas of Washington, DC to shut down and major roads are closed, and the event has not attracted a large number of Trump fans. Instead, supporters, active-duty military personnel, curious locals, and spectators close to the barracks occupied designated streets in the front few blocks of the White House, with even spaces open.

In front of the central stage, a group of audiences comparable to medium-sized concerts gathered in front of the giant electronic display. The lawns around the Washington Monument are mostly vacant open spaces.

" Although rock music was played on TV, the parade itself was unusually quiet. A video posted on X website showed tanks creaking through an almost silent crowd, sounding like a shopping cart that was in desperate need of gas."

3. Is Trump still popular with the public?

According to a NBC News Decision Station poll, Trump’s second term approval rating remains at a negative level, as is the general attitude towards his administration’s policies.

Negative emotions outweigh positive emotions

There are serious differences on immigration and border security, and people have a more negative evaluation of two other key issues during Trump 's second term—the Ministry of Tariffs and Government Efficiency.

The majority (55%) of adults over the age of 18 expressed disapproval of Trump’s style of conduct, while 45% expressed consent.

While the overall figures remain stable, on the surface there are signs of a slight decline in enthusiasm for the president, and the proportion of adults who strongly support the president has declined slightly since April. The proportion of strong opposition to the president also dropped slightly, but in this poll, strong negative emotions were still stronger than positive emotions.

When asked about his feelings about the president and his actions, the number of supporters who chose to “excited” “make America great again” also decreased compared to April. 37% of respondents said they were excited about the actions the Trump administration has taken so far in office, down from 46% in April.

What is the public opinion about the immigration issue that Trump is most

concerned about?

Trump’s overall data on immigration is similar to the April polls, but Republicans, MAGA-enabled Republicans and independents are now more likely to say they strongly agree with Trump’s approach to border security and immigration.

Related content can be viewed by Golden Finance article "The impact of the continued fermentation of LA riots on the US economy and crypto market"

In recent months, the Trump administration’s immigration policy overlaps with its higher education policies, especially for foreign students across the United States. The poll found that most Americans do not agree with Trump 's way of dealing with college-related issues, 56% do not agree with Trump's actions on colleges and universities, and 42% of them strongly objected.

However, Trump’s supporters strongly support his approach to college. Supporters of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) overwhelmingly agreed, with 72% strongly agreeing. Most Republicans agree, with 57% strongly agreeing with Trump's approach to the issue.

The public gave negative comments on how Trump handled several other issues, including tariffs (40% accompliance, 60% offense), cost of living and inflation (39%-61%), and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts (44%-56%).

Are the people still satisfied with DOGE?

Americans have slight comments on Musk 's efforts to use DOGE to cut government spending and government size since April.

In the recent survey, 44% believed the program was successful or partially successful, down from 47% before, while 56% believed the program was failed or partially failed, up from 52% before.

Only 49% of supporters currently believe DOGE's efforts have been successful, down from 66% in April.

People seem to be a little discouraged by DOGE, which is related to DOGE's actual results and Musk's "breakup" with Trump.

In summary, the people are not satisfied with the performance of the Ministry of Tariffs and Government Efficiency, and are relatively satisfied with the handling of immigration issues, but do not recognize the handling of study abroad issues. Overall, the overall support for Trump is not as good as that. With tariff issues, immigration issues, and the continued conflict between Iraq and Israel, Trump's approval rating is still facing certain tests.

Trump may be someone similar to Musk – he needs to be shining and always active in the crowd. Therefore, we can’t help but ask: Is it a coincidence or inevitable that the military parade and birthday party presented to the public? Is it a regular operation or a personal interest binding to the on- site thanks to the Coinbase sponsorship parade? Will the call of "No Kings" wake up the "King of Understanding" who has just been in office for more than half a year?

Source: Golden Finance, Jinshi Data, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, Rolling Stone, NBC, Lianhe Zaobao, etc.