'Everything is a tinderbox': Military worried about 'Tiananmen Square moment' at Trump parade
U.S. President Donald Trump looks at a military exercise during a visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump is holding a military parade tomorrow, in which the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army will coincide with his 79th birthday. But those two events will also coincide with a nationwide day of protest against Trump's administration.
Journalist Jim Acosta reported on a recent episode of his Substack show that this reportedly has some military officials worried. Acosta cited a quote from New York Times Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper, in which she said on the paper's The Daily podcast that the military is concerned about the optics of a protester blocking the path of a military vehicle — just as pro-democracy protesters famously did in China in 1989.
"Some current and ex-military officials are worried about a possible Tiananmen Square moment during the festivities, because of the birthday party coinciding with the 250th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Army," Acosta said, quoting Cooper. "There are a lot of wheels in motion right now, they're juggling a lot right now putting this together."
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"They're worried about a potential Tiananmen Square moment where you have a protester standing in front of a tank," Acosta said, emphasizing the imagery. "I mean, imagine something like that!"
The moment Acosta referenced took place in Beijing in 1989, in which student protesters took to the streets after the death of high-ranking Chinese politician Hu Yaobang. The government decided to invoke martial law in early June in order to quell protests at Tiananmen Square, which the BBC reports reached as many as one million strong at the time of the crackdown.
In one famous image, a protester carrying shopping bags is seen standing in front of a tank, preventing it from moving. When the tank attempted to drive around the protester, the protester maneuvered in front of it. Security forces ultimately arrested the man, and his fate remains unknown. Government forces ultimately killed approximately 200 people during the crackdown according to the Chinese Communist Party, though pro-democracy organizations dispute that figure and estimate it to number in the thousands.
Trump's military parade is taking place on the same day as the nationwide "No Kings" protest, with organizers reporting that roughly 1,800 cities across the U.S. and around the world are taking part. Some far-right activists have called for violence against protesters as a means of discouraging future events.
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