Mick Mulvaney: Money wasn't the only factor in delaying Trump's military parade

Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption American Legion happy Trump parade postponed The veteran's group, the American Legion, is commending the President's postponement of a military parade. The Legion believes that the anticipated $92 million cost could be better spent assisting veterans and their families. (Aug. 17)

WASHINGTON – Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Sunday said factors other than its costs likely contributed to the cancellation of President Donald Trump's planned military parade.

"If the parade had been canceled purely for fiscal reasons, I imagine I would have been in the room when that decision was made, and I wasn't," Mulvaney said on "Fox News Sunday." "So my guess is there were other contributing factors."

He did not detail those other reasons.

In a tweet Friday, Trump blamed local officials, saying their "ridiculously high" cost estimates forced his administration to scuttle the parade plans. He accused them of price-gouging.

A day earlier, CNBC and ABC News, citing unnamed officials, reported that cost estimates for the parade had grown to $92 million, up from an initial estimate of $12 million last year.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back on Trump's complaints about Washington officials, tweeting that the city's estimate for its share of the expense was $21.6 million.

On Sunday, Mulvaney indicated that he had seen higher estimates from the city and suggested local officials might be playing politics.

"I mean, I like the mayor. She seems like a nice lady," Mulvaney said. "But face it, this is a city that voted probably, I don't know, 70, 80 percent against the president. So to think that maybe the City Council of Washington, D.C., is not trying to help the president accomplish what he wants to accomplish shouldn't be news to anybody."

The parade had been planned for Nov. 10. Pentagon officials say they now are exploring "opportunities" to hold the event in 2019.

More: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser says District's parade cost estimates lower than Trump's claims

More: Pentagon says Trump's military parade postponed until 2019 amid reports costs jumped 666%