Washington(CNN) President Donald Trump has asked for a military parade and the Pentagon is reviewing potential dates, Pentagon spokesman Charlie Summers said Tuesday.

The spokesman described the planning process as being in its "infancy."

In response to the news, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump had asked the Defense Department to "explore" the idea.

"President Trump is incredibly supportive of America's great servicemembers who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe. He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation," Sanders said.

The Washington Post first reported Trump told top Pentagon brass last month he wants a military parade.

"The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France," a military official told the paper. "This is being worked at the highest levels of the military."

Trump's meeting with senior military leaders last month included Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford.

Trump was French President Emmanuel Macron's guest on Bastille Day last year, and later called the French military parade he witnessed "one of the greatest parades" he had ever seen.

He said last September in a conversation with Macron that when he came back from France he wanted a military parade on the Fourth of July in Washington.

Trump's call for a military parade might be hitting a few snags. The Post said shipping tanks and military hardware into Washington could cost millions of dollars, and that military officials said they were unsure how to pay for it.

After the Gulf War in 1991, the US put on a victory celebration replete with servicemembers and military gear.

The news of Trump's call for a military parade in the US comes as North Korea plans to show off dozens of long-range missiles during a February 8 parade, sources with deep knowledge of North Korea's intentions told CNN last week.

North Korea shows off its weapons technology Trucks transport what appear to be North Korea's Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010. A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of a military vehicle carrying what is believed to be a Taepodong-class missile during a military parade to mark the 100th birthday of the country's founder Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. At a parade in Pyongyang in July 2013, North Korea shows off the KN-08, which it claims are road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles. A North Korean Taepodong-class missile is displayed during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27, 2013. North Korean rocket launchers pass through Kim Il Sung square during a July 2013 military parade. Trucks carrying what are believed to be KN-08 ballistic missiles in a July 2013 military parade. A KN-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in a military parade at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square in October 2015. North Korean mobile rocket launchers are displayed during a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015.

The parade is expected to include dozens of intercontinental-range Hwasong-15 missiles, which the North Koreans test-fired for the first time in late November, the sources said.

The display of "hundreds" of missiles and rockets would be an attempt "to scare the hell out of the Americans," one of the sources said.