split-screen of a divided America

WASHINGTON, D.C., and ANNAPOLIS, Md. — There are events that become a Rorschach test that brings out America’s political and cultural divisions in bold relief. Saturday’s military parade — which celebrated the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and also fell on President Trump’s birthday — was that kind of moment.

As the Trump administration geared up for the parade filled with tanks and armored personnel carriers rolling through the nation’s capital, people in dozens of cities across the country protested the event as a politicization of the armed forces by a would-be autocrat.

The protests were called No Kings.

The 33-mile trip from one protest in Annapolis to the parade grandstand in front of the White House was like a journey between two different countries.

John Wells, a 76-year-old retired economist statistician with the federal government, said he supported the U.S. army, but couldn’t stand the parade.

“It’s outrageous. We’re not in Russia or North Korea … or China. That’s the thing they do. It’s also costing a lot of money and people’s resources,” Wells said of the price tag for the D.C. parade and surrounding events, estimated at $25 million to $45 million.

Speakers in Annapolis included labor union representatives, the leader of an immigrant advocacy group and a George Washington reenactor who wore a white wig and a blue waistcoat. Randy Goldberg, a 75-year-old retired nurse, played America’s first president and delivered the speech Washington gave when he relinquished his military command there in 1783.

“I retire from the great theater of action and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body under whose orders I have so long acted, I hereby offer my commission and leave all the employments of public life,” Goldberg said, channeling Washington as the crowd broke into applause.

The protesters’ point was that Washington voluntarily gave up military power, while they say Trump was trying to accrue more by holding the parade on the National Mall with countless tons of military hardware.

Trump dismissed such criticism Saturday.

“Every other country celebrates their victories,” Trump told the crowd in D.C. “It’s about time that America did, too.”

In fact, this was not a victory celebration, but a birthday party for the Army. The last time the U.S. held a similar parade was after the First Gulf War, in 1991.

Trump has attacked the patriotism of his critics and of journalists he doesn’t like, saying, “They hate our country.” Anticipating such an attack, speakers in Annapolis said protest is an act of patriotism, especially when the target is a president they say is trampling America’s system of checks and balances.

“We have to own the flag. No one can tell us that we’re not patriots,” said Donna Edwards, president of the Maryland & DC AFL-CIO, who addressed the Annapolis crowd wearing an American flag dress. “No one should say that because we’re here, we hate America. We’re fighting for America.“

About 45 minutes to the west, many who attended the Army celebration also wore flag T-shirts, hats and shorts. The crowd was diverse and included military families whose members had immigrated to the U.S. from around the world, including Ecuador, El Salvador and Vietnam.

The event in the nation’s capital seemed at times like a cross between a military festival and an Army recruiting video. People lounged on the grass in the shadow of the Washington Monument. Amid the strains of Van Halen over the loudspeakers, tank drivers pumped their fists and revved their engines as they drove past cheering crowds down Constitution Avenue. Along the way, the announcer thanked the various corporate sponsors, including Lockheed Martin and Palantir, the data-mining firm that has a $30 million contract to help Immigration and Customs and Enforcement track migrants in the U.S.

The staging seemed designed to enhance the muscular image Trump likes to project. A pair of tanks sat in front of the grandstand from which the president watched. After his speech, Trump was presented with a traditionally folded U.S. flag — a gift usually reserved for the family members of fallen soldiers.

Some who attended the event — including a few who said they did not vote for Trump — dismissed criticism that the parade had authoritarian overtones.

“I think they’ve got this whole cloud over their head that Trump’s this dictator when he’s acting completely [within] the law,” said Dennis Connelly, 19, who wore baggy American flag pants and had flown in from Knoxville, Tenn., for the event.

The president, too, took issue ahead of the parade with being described as a king. “I don’t feel like a king,” Trump said in advance of the parade. “I have to go through hell to get things approved.”

His administration’s actions have been mired in hundreds of lawsuits — and the courts have frequently blocked them from being implemented.

Connelly says he hopes to enlist in the Marines and serve in counterintelligence. While No Kings protesters criticized Trump for busting norms, Connelly sees that as a good thing.

“He’s powerful, and he’s kind of like those high school bullies. … And I just think that’s wonderful,” said Connelly. “We have to have a powerful president who’s willing to push some boundaries.”

Although Connelly is a fan of Trump’s, he has doubts about some of the president’s policies. He says allowing ICE agents to wear masks provides people the opportunity to impersonate them and commit crimes. He also says he doesn’t think Trump has a complete understanding of tariffs.

“I think he’s assuming that these companies are willing to pay them and not going to manipulate the public … and add that on to [the] consumer price,” said Connelly, who took his first airplane flight ever to come here.

Well before the parade’s end, thousands began heading out. As they exited onto Constitution Avenue, they were met by No Kings protesters.

America’s split-screen day had finally merged into a collective image of a divided people half block from the White House, many unable or unwilling to talk to one another.