Yamiche Alcindor:

Well, the president is — it's really unprecedented for the president to hold a Fourth of July address alongside military equipment and military leaders.

The president said he wants to honor America and really celebrate all this military equipment that he's excited is being made. In the Oval Office this week, he said that there are tanks being made in Ohio, and he wants people to see them.

That being said, there are politics at play here. The Republican National Committee was giving out VIP donor tickets to Republican donors. There are also people that are close to the president that are going to have really good seats here.

The other thing to note is, the president is really excited about this, but there's a lot of criticism about the president really using the military in this way.

I have been talking to former military officials who tell me it's — quote — "ridiculous" for the president to essentially force military leaders to stand behind him and stand next to him. They also said that this is really the stuff of dictators, that, in Russia or North Korea, you see military parades like this, but, here in America, you don't see that.

That being said, the president says he is excited to address this crowd.