--- title: Russian State-Run Media Mocked Trump's July 4 Parade description: Journalists on Russian state-owned media were underwhelmed by President Trump's Independence Day parade. canonical: https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-06T16:23:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:42.822Z article:section: Politics og:title: Russian State-Run Media Mocked President Trump's July 4 'Salute to America' og:description: They said military machinery was held together with "adhesive tape" and covered with "peeling paint" og:url: https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ac0e2487b822fb/6989ff9509208f5cd7415344/trump-parade.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-JULY4-HOLIDAY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Russian State-Run Media Mocked President Trump's July 4 'Salute to America' twitter:description: They said military machinery was held together with "adhesive tape" and covered with "peeling paint" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ac0e2487b822fb/6989ff9509208f5cd7415344/trump-parade.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Russian State-Run Media Mocked President Trump's July 4 'Salute to America' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Trump Stays Mostly On-Script and off Politics at Fourth of July 'Salute to America' [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Stays Mostly On-Script and off Politics at Fourth of July 'Salute to America'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DI7yjhrd.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2019-07-05. President Donald Trump celebrated “the greatest political journey in human history” Thursday in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy, cheering crowd of spectators, many of them invited, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial._  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 6, 2019 4:23 PM UTC  Members of the US military are seen next to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle as preparations are made for the "Salute to America" Fourth of July event with US President Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, July 3. Members of the US military are seen next to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle as preparations are made for the "Salute to America" Fourth of July event with US President Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, July 3. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 6, 2019 4:23 PM UTC Journalists on Russian state-owned media were underwhelmed by President Trump’s Independence Day parade. Commentators on Russian news channel [Rossiya 24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olKeCHtpKjg) and the popular program [_60 Minutes_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lcc4PxMwI) criticized the Washington, D.C. event for showcasing older military machinery that they said looked like it was held together with “adhesive tape” and covered with “peeling paint.” Journalist Artem Krasulin on Rossiya 24 pointed out that the machinery’s guns didn’t have barrels, and that some of the weapons on display looked “battered.” “Asked by journalists why no new technology was brought to the center of Washington, the Pentagon answered…. the White House requested these exact machines,” Krasulin said. On _60 Minutes_, some of the commentators chuckled as they watched Fox News clips discussing how the parade would remind Americans that the President is “changing all of our lives.” Commentators also criticized the U.S. for lambasting Russian military parades, including the country’s annual May 9 Victory Day celebration, which commemorates the Allied victory over the Nazis. Critics have argued that President Vladimir Putin has tried to co-opt the Allied victory to promote Russian power. “Trump declared that the \[American\] military parade is democratic and beautiful, and we remember that the Russian parade is totalitarian and terrible,” said journalist Olga Skabeeva. In the United States, [criticism](https://time.com/5619191/donald-trump-july-4-speech-controversy/) of the display has focused on the parade’s cost and a perception that the President seized on a nonpartisan celebration of the country for political ends. Trump, at least, appears to have been pleased by the parade. Over the past few days, he’s retweeted photos of the event and commentary praising the spectacle. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/"},"headline":"Russian State-Run Media Mocked President Trump's July 4 'Salute to America'","datePublished":"2019-07-06T16:23:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:42.822Z","description":"They said military machinery was held together with \"adhesive tape\" and covered with \"peeling paint\"","url":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/","keywords":["russia","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ac0e2487b822fb/6989ff9509208f5cd7415344/trump-parade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ac0e2487b822fb/6989ff9509208f5cd7415344/trump-parade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-JULY4-HOLIDAY","caption":"Tanks for Salute to America","creditText":"BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/","name":"Russian State-Run Media Mocked President Trump's July 4 'Salute to America'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Stays Mostly On-Script and off Politics at Fourth of July 'Salute to America'","description":"President Donald Trump celebrated “the greatest political journey in human history” Thursday in a Fourth of July commemoration before a soggy, cheering crowd of spectators, many of them invited, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DI7yjhrd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-07-05T00:16:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DI7yjhrd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/","duration":"PT1M17S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5621375/russia-trump-parade/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```