U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he had cancelled his proposed military parade in Washington and would instead visit Paris on Nov. 11 to commemorate Veterans Day, after the Defence Department said it had postponed the event to at least next year.

The Republican president had requested a parade to honour U.S. military veterans and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One after marvelling at the Bastille Day military parade he attended in Paris last year.

On Thursday, the Pentagon said the event, planned for Nov. 10, would be postponed. A U.S. official said it could cost more than $90 million US, nearly three times as much as the White House had earlier estimated.

Critics blasted the cost of the planned parade, which comes as the U.S. is still mired in conflicts overseas and the Pentagon has sought to stabilize an overstretched military.

Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris last July. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)

Trump, in a pair of tweets, said he would instead celebrate the occasion in Paris. He also said he would attend a parade at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland but gave no date.

He accused local Washington officials of seeking a "windfall" with a "ridiculously high" price tag for the parade.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser suggested the cost to the city alone would have been more than $20 million US.

Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad). <a href="https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx">https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx</a> —@MurielBowser

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bowser rejected Trump's claim the city exaggerated the costs of a proposed parade as "patently false." She said she opposes the parade regardless of the price.

Bowser said that "as a taxpayer" she would rather see that money spent on other ways of honouring the military such as ensuring "no veteran goes homeless."

One group representing veterans weighed in Thursday against the parade.

"The American Legion appreciates that our president wants to show in a dramatic fashion our nation's support for our troops," said Denise Rohan, the organization's national commander. "However, until such time as we can celebrate victory in the War on Terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible."

The Elysee Palace had no immediate comment on Trump's planned visit.

With files from CBC News and The Associated Press