Buttigieg says President Trump's July 4 event about 'ego'



WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of President Donald Trump's Democratic rivals says he thinks it's "ego" that's motivating Trump's Fourth of July event in the nation's capital.

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) says Trump's "Salute to America" is "a show of insecurity." Trump says the event will feature a speech and a display of military might.

Buttigieg is a Navy Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2014. He told a crowd in Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday night that "this business of diverting money and military assets to use them as a kind of prop, to prop up a presidential ego, is not reflecting well on our country."

Trump has ordered the Pentagon to stage military demonstrations including a flyover of jets, helicopters and other aircraft. He says it'll be the "show of a lifetime."

The President says he'll "speak on behalf of our great Country" at his "Salute to America" Independence Day event in the nation's capital.

Trump is set to give remarks in the evening at the Lincoln Memorial.

Critics calls Trump's event a divisive intrusion on a traditionally unifying national holiday and say it's a waste of money. Trump tweeted Wednesday the cost "will be very little compared to what it is worth."