The Trump administration has struggled to hand out all available tickets to Thursday evening's "Salute to America" on the National Mall and a speech by President Donald Trump himself, a new report claims.
The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that White House aides are focusing on not having another spat regarding crowd size like the one that cropped up during Trump's 2017 inauguration.
But with the potential for inclement weather in the forecast, a free concert at the opposite end of the mall from where Trump will speak, and myriad complaints about the event's cost and other factors, there is worry that some of the VIP seats near the podium will be empty despite an aggressive push to dole out free tickets.
Trump is scheduled to speak at 6:30 p.m. Tanks and other military vehicles are positioned on the Mall, and a flyover including several military aircraft will be conducted.
The Post reported there were many VIP passes still unclaimed this week.
Local officials in Washington, D.C. and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill — Democrats and Republicans — have complained about the event's cost and the overall message it sends to the world because of the military might that will be on display.
Trump first got the idea of holding a salute to the military while he attended France's Bastille Day in 2017. The administration was forced to cancel a planned parade through the streets of Washington last year because of high costs, so the idea was altered and scaled down to celebrate the Fourth of July.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.