The grand military parade that President Donald Trump had been wanting for years barrelled down Constitution Avenue on Saturday with tanks, troops and a 21-gun salute, playing out against the counterpoint of protests across the country by those who decried the U.

For its 250th birthday, the Army put on the largest show of military might in the capital in more than three decades.

After all the talk of dictators and wannabe kings, the Army’s anniversary celebration in the capital was a low-key affair, amid national turmoil.