Donald Trump said on Monday that a display of US military tanks would be part of a special event he is headlining on the Fourth of July in Washington.

An Associated Press photographer saw at least two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles on a flatcar in a railyard at the south-eastern edge of Washington.

Military police were guarding the vehicles, which were visible to passersby on nearby paths.

A US official told AP that the military vehicles to be used in the Fourth of July event were being stored at the railyard.

Trump had wanted a military parade of tanks and other equipment in the District of Columbia after he witnessed a similar parade on Bastille Day in Paris in 2017. That plan eventually was scuttled, partly because of cost, though Trump apparently held on to the idea.

Local officials had also objected because of the damage the heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.

“We’re going to have some tanks stationed outside,” Trump said on Monday from the Oval Office, appearing to acknowledge local officials’ earlier concerns. He offered no specifics on where the vehicles would be located.

“You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” he said. “So we have to put them in certain areas, but we have the brand new Sherman tanks and we have the brand new Abrams tanks.”

Sherman tanks were the tank most widely used by the US during the second world war, but they have been out of service for decades. The M1A1 Abrams tank is currently the main US battle tank.

Two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles will be on display as part of Trump’s “Salute to America” event, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the exhibits have not been made public.

The Abrams tanks weigh more than 60 tons apiece and were been shipped on railroad freight cars, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the nearest army base that has them. The White House declined to release more specific information.

Federal lawmakers, local officials and others have voiced concerns that Trump could alter the tone of what traditionally is a nonpartisan celebration of America’s independence from the British by delivering a political speech. Trump formally announced his bid for re-election in June.