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.

The president, on his 79th birthday, sat on a special viewing stand south of the White House to watch the display of American military might.