Trump prefers “campaign rallies and parades rather than working through traditional parties and local networks,” Sheri Berman, a political-science professor at Barnard College whose research includes democracy, populism, and fascism, told me. “I think July 4 can be seen as part of the way in which … he mobilizes voters and connects with his base, different from the way a more traditional politician would.” Put another way: “Trump has to colonize everything,” says Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University who specializes in authoritarian leaders. “Any holiday, any civic ritual, becomes a Trump ritual.”

Trump has pined for a national military parade since at least July 2017, when he watched French soldiers marching in Paris on Bastille Day. Speaking privately with French President Emmanuel Macron a couple of months later in New York at a United Nations General Assembly meeting, Trump mentioned the display, turned to his delegation, and said “I want horses! I want horses!” a former French official told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the conversation. Planning began shortly thereafter for a parade in the fall of 2018, but the administration ultimately scrapped the idea, citing cost estimates for security, traffic control, and other obligations that ran into the tens of millions of dollars.

The Fourth of July plans seem to resurrect much of what Trump wanted to see. Fighter jets will be streaking overhead. At least two types of tanks, Sherman and Abrams, will be showcased, though they won’t be trundling down Pennsylvania Avenue. (All will be brand-spanking-new, Trump promised. Except … it won’t be. The Sherman tank is old; the World War II–era relic hasn’t been in service since the 1950s.) And Trump appears to have gotten his original wish: Horses will be part of an early-afternoon parade along Constitution Avenue.

Depositing tanks into a crowded city risks some collateral damage. They’re heavy and can crack pavement. An Abrams tank weighs upwards of 60 tons—that’s about 41 Toyota Corollas. Under previous leadership, the Pentagon has been sympathetic to the potential harm. A memo from then–Defense Secretary James Mattis’s office last year cautioned that no tanks should be used for the parade under discussion at that time, and that “consideration must be given to minimize damage to local infrastructure.” Administration officials said the tank displays tomorrow will be “static,” meaning the vehicles won’t be moving.

Watching plans for the event unfold, the city’s leadership is nervous. They worry the infrastructure won’t be able to accommodate the equipment, and they question whether they’ll be repaid for cleanup and other expenses. That’s not an unrealistic fear. The Trump administration and Congress still owe the District of Columbia more than $7 million from Trump’s 2017 inauguration.