Washington (CNN) Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump's upcoming July Fourth "Salute to America" parade, saying that the event -- which will feature military tanks and flyovers in Washington -- only "makes America look smaller."

"One of the reasons I joined the military was that in a small way I wanted to be part of seeing to it that my country was not the kind of place where a leader feels the need to boost his own ego by rolling tanks down the streets of our capital," the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead." "We've always been bigger than that."

"We've been the kind of country that traditionally respects our military enough not to use them as props," he added.

Trump's event has drawn considerable scrutiny ahead of Independence Day. The US military is expected to be central to Thursday's celebration, with plans to showcase M1 Abrams tanks, a military plane flyover and a variety of weapons.

While Trump tweeted earlier this week that the military was "thrilled" to participate in the parade, CNN reported Wednesday that military chiefs have concerns about the politicization of the event, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

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