The White House disputed the Pentagon's claim this week that President Donald Trump's military parade was called off before he could be briefed on cost estimates for the event.
Col. Rob Manning said Monday that Trump axed the parade, originally set for Nov. 10 but now potentially slated for 2019, before the Department of Defense presented him with a rough price estimate for the event, The Hill noted.
The statement was in contradiction to a tweet posted by Trump on Friday morning, in which he said the parade had been canceled due to its high cost estimate following its $92 million price tag leak to the media Thursday.
An anonymous U.S. defense official, revealed the cost to CNBC, noting that the figure consisted of $50 million from the Pentagon and $42 million from interagency partners.
Defense Secretary James Mattis argued the cost estimate, stating that he had not been briefed on figures, calling whoever leaked the number an "idiot," The Hill noted.
"The planning committee for the parade had not reached a point where they have briefed senior leadership in the department," Manning said. "It was moving forward, it had just not matured to that point."
However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The New York Post that both Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly were aware of the parade's cost estimate.
"Secretary Mattis briefed the president on the parade a couple of weeks ago and the following day Gen. Kelly briefed him on the costs of what Sec. Mattis had laid out," Sanders said.
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