Russian journalists poke Trump's July 4 show

Journalists with Russian state-run media mocked the military hardware featured in President Trump’s “Salute to America” Fourth of July celebration earlier this week, with some joking about the quality of the equipment and others blasting the spectacle as something you would see under “Putin’s America.”

  The Hill

He'll have to take back what he said about Russian journalists being under Putin's thumb.  Or did Putin approve? After all, it was state-run media.

[The journalists claimed] the tanks and other armored vehicles being towed into Washington had “paint peeling off” and required “adhesive tape.”

[...]

She also claimed that “Americans are allowed to hold a parade because theirs is democratic, but we are not allowed because ours is chauvinistic” and implied that the condition of the tanks and other armored vehicles was less of a priority for Trump than “that the parade takes place with much fanfare.”

Earlier on Thursday, Skabayeva tweeted images of military vehicles being brought to Washington, writing “Putin’s America” beside an emoji crying from laughter.

For Russians, who are accustomed to annual nationwide displays of military might, Trump’s event on Thursday isn’t impressive, according to Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Each year on May 9 — the day Russia celebrates victory over the Nazis in World War II — grandiose parades are held in Moscow’s Red Square and across the nation. President Vladimir Putin watches from the bleachers facing the square, as the country shows off the Kremlin’s latest flashy military hardware.

  WaPo

Definitely a more appropriate time for a celebration of military might.

A much more forceful critique of U.S. policy toward Russia took place on July 4, as U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. held a lavish reception at his Moscow residence to celebrate American independence.

About 50 people gathered to protest U.S. sanctions outside the front gates. Their chants could be heard as Huntsman delivered his speech to a large crowd of taco- and burger-munching guests, lauding American values and “recognizing the rights of all voices, including those with dissenting opinions.”