Which U.S. generals publicly criticized or opposed Trump's 2018 military parade plan?

1. “What dictators do”: a named warning from a senior officer

The clearest named rebuke reported in the assembled coverage is attributed to then–Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Paul J. Selva, who reportedly remarked that military parades like the one proposed were “what dictators do,” a formulation cited in the summary history of the proposed parade and its critics ^[1]. That phrase is widely used in contemporaneous summaries to capture senior military discomfort with the optics of a large parade in Washington, D.C. ^[1].

2. Institutional resistance: Pentagon officials worried about politics and cost

Multiple reports emphasize a broader Pentagon pushback: officials told reporters they wanted to keep the military out of politics and raised concerns about the parade’s high projected price tag, which helped lead to cancellation of the 2018 plan ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Coverage notes Pentagon estimates ranging widely and cites leaks that put a later projected figure near $92 million — a cost the administration used to justify canceling the 2018 event ^{[2] [1]}.

3. Retired generals and public voices: media summaries, not exhaustive lists

News accounts and opinion pieces of the time and afterward refer to “generals” being “not keen” on the idea and to a mix of retired and serving leaders who privately or publicly questioned it, but the results provided here do not assemble a single comprehensive list of every general who criticized the plan ^{[4] [3] [2]}. The People article and other outlets relay anecdotal or sourced comments that veterans and military members — including some senior officers — found the spectacle inappropriate ^{[4] [2]}.

4. Where reporting documents pushback vs. where specifics are thin

Contemporary poll and press coverage documented broad opposition among service members and citizens and recorded specific institutional objections at the Pentagon — but the available set of sources does not catalog each named general who publicly opposed the parade ^{[3] [2]}. For example, the AP and Reason pieces describe bipartisan concerns and widespread military personnel skepticism, but they frame much of the resistance as institutional or anonymous rather than offering a definitive list of dissenting generals ^{[2] [5]}.

5. Differing perspectives and political angles in the coverage

Coverage diverges on motive and tone: some outlets emphasize principled civil‑military concerns (Pentagon officials saying the military should remain apolitical) and cost prudence ^{[3] [2]}, while opinion pieces portray the plan as vanity or authoritarian-looking and tie criticism to partisan arguments ^{[6] [7]}. The sources include both straight news reporting on objections and editorializing that highlights the parade’s symbolic dangers ^{[2] [7]}.

6. Limits of the sources and next steps for a definitive list

Available sources do not provide a complete public roll call of which active-duty or retired generals explicitly and on-the-record repudiated the 2018 parade proposal (not found in current reporting). To compile a definitive list you would need to consult contemporaneous primary reporting from 2017–2018 (e.g., White House, Pentagon transcripts, press statements) and archived interviews naming individuals or Freedom of Information Act materials that document who spoke publicly and when.

Summary verdict: reporting shows prominent institutional pushback — including sharp lines like Gen. Paul Selva’s “what dictators do” remark and wide Pentagon concerns about politics and cost — but the current source set does not furnish a complete, named roster of every U.S. general who publicly criticized or opposed the 2018 parade plan ^{[1] [2] [3]}.