Big Tech Companies Helped Fund Trump's Inauguration, Now They Could Be Funding His Military, Birthday Parade

President Donald Trump is set to host a large military parade in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 14, an event that coincides with his birthday. It turns out big technology companies could be helping to fund the event alongside taxpayers.

What Happened: Trump's parade to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the U.S. Army on Saturday comes one year before a planned semiquincentennial celebration to mark the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Both events are bringing in a large number of big, well-known companies to make donations to support the efforts, similar to the companies that donated to Trump's inauguration ceremony.

A report from The Verge citing statements from organization planner America250 names Oracle Corp ORCL, Amazon.com Inc AMZN, Coinbase Global Inc COIN, Palantir Technologies PLTR, Scott's Miracle-Gro Co SMG, FedEx Corp FDX and Lockheed Martin Corp LMT as companies that are sponsoring the America250 Foundation.

This congressionally appointed nonprofit is in charge of raising funds for the 250^th anniversary next year and also logistics for the parade and festival this weekend.

"Many of these sponsors will support the upcoming grand military parade being held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 14^th, to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250^th birthday," press releases from America250 read.

According to The Verge, Meta Platforms Inc META was previously named a sponsor by America250 before its logo was removed from the sponsorship page. Meta offered a response to The Verge.

"While we are not currently a sponsor, we have had a historical relationship with America250, and we are actively exploring potential partnership opportunities with them in the future," a Meta spokesperson told The Verge.

Many of the companies chose not to respond to comment to The Verge in the report, but Lockheed Martin confirmed its sponsorship of America250.

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Why It's Important: The U.S. Army estimates that the cost of the parade this weekend will be between $25 million and $45 million. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll defended the costs to Congress as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fill up our recruiting pipeline."

The parade is seen as a precursor to next year's celebration and will mainly celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Army. The parade also takes place on Trump's birthday, which has led many to believe that it will be a celebration of the current president.

Donations to America250 for next year's event are likely being used to help fund this weekend's parade based on the wording in press releases. The question is whether companies that are donating for next year's event are aware that their money is being used for both.

The report of donations from large companies follows a similar path to the large technology and cryptocurrency companies that helped fund Trump's inauguration. Some of the donations were made by companies that may have been looking to get favors or win political favor with Trump.

Companies helping fund the military parade and birthday celebration could be doing the same.

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