Washington: 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 a counterpoint of protests around the country by those who decried the US leader as a dictator and would-be king.

The chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, the top congressional officials overseeing the military, are skipping Trump’s pageantry, which includes a flyover of vintage and contemporary warplanes. Instead, they’ll attend a different air show — the annual defense industry confab in Paris.