The president celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army as demonstrators hold "No Kings" events from coast to coast.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The grand military parade that President Donald Trump had been wanting for years barreled 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 U.S. leader as a dictator and would-be king.

Coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday, the parade will feature tanks, bands and thousands of troops in honor of the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration.

In Washington, D.C., scores of people have shifted from the Army festival to the parade route, walking west toward the Washington Monument. The protests have—for now—mostly died down. It’s a hot, steamy Washington evening,