Trump flexes military might at US parade

Protesters hold rallies across the country

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President Donald Trump hosted the largest US military parade in decades on his 79th birthday on Saturday, as protesters rallied across the country to accuse him of acting like a dictator.

Mr Trump hailed the United States as the “hottest country in the world” after watching tanks, aircraft and troops file past him in Washington to honour the 250th anniversary of the US army.

But it formed a stark split screen with turmoil at home and abroad, as police used teargas to disperse protesters in Los Angeles and US ally Israel traded missile fire with Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Trump’s parade on an overcast night in Washington came after hundreds of thousands of “No Kings” demonstrators thronged the streets in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta.

Mr Trump largely avoided his usual domestic political diatribes in an unusually brief speech, and instead focused on praising the US army, saying that they “fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win.”

The display of military might comes as Mr Trump asserts his power domestically and on the international stage.

In his address to the parade, Mr Trump sent a warning to Washington's adversaries of “total and complete” defeat, with the United States increasingly at risk of getting tangled up in Israel’s conflict with Iran.