Tanks Arrive In D.C. Ahead Of Fourth Of July Celebration

At least two Army tanks have arrived in Washington ahead of a Fourth of July celebration that President Donald Trump says will include military hardware.

An Associated Press photographer says the two M1A1 Abrams tanks are with four other military vehicles on a freight train in a railyard at the southeastern edge of Washington.

The vehicles are being guarded by military police but are visible to passers-by on nearby paths. A military official earlier told the AP that the tanks were transported north from Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Trump told reporters Monday that the tanks will be stationed outside the Fourth of July celebration but has not given details on how they will be used.

"We're going to have a great Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. It will be like no other, it will be special and I hope a lot of people come and it is going to be about this country and it is a salute to America and I'm going to be here and I'm going to say a few words and we're going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes too. And we're going to have some tanks stationed outside."

Trump had wanted a parade of military tanks and other equipment in Washington after witnessing a similar parade in Paris in 2017. But that plan eventually was scuttled, partly because of cost.

This year, the president is organizing an event called "Salute to America" that the administration says will honor the U.S. military.

Trump plans to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday. The event will include music, military demonstrations and flyovers. The annual fireworks display will go off closer to the Lincoln Memorial than the Washington Monument.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)