This Saturday, on June 14, 2025, Americans will witness simultaneous displays of federal armed power in cities from coast to coast. In Los Angeles, the California National Guard—called into federal service as the Constitution and the law permit—will join a detachment of Marines to assist federal civilian authorities in enforcing the immigration laws of the United States. Meanwhile, in the District of Columbia, the U.S. Army will celebrate Flag Day, its 250th birthday, and Mr. Trump’s 79th with a parade along Constitution Avenue.

There should always be something unsettling about the presence of troops in American cities—even when that presence is celebratory, as in the D.C. parade. If we are not disturbed by such shows of force, someone isn’t doing their job. As Alexander Hamilton advised Secretary of War James McHenry during Fries’s Rebellion in 1799: “Whenever the Government appears in arms, it ought to appear like a Hercules, and inspire respect by the display of strength. The consideration of expense is of no moment compared with the advantages of energy.”

These demonstrations of military power offer lessons for both Red and Blue America—if we care to learn them.

First, because the Commander-in-Chief is not merely a Republican but Mr. Trump, we can expect careful scrutiny of every detail of our military’s performance and every penny of expense by opposition politicians and the opposition-controlled press (which is almost all of it). We will not have a repeat of the near disaster and media disgrace of last year’s Takoma Park, Maryland, Fourth of July parade, when the Maryland Defense Force cavalry let a warhorse bolt through the crowd, knocking down one spectator and jostling others. Local media widely covered the incident, but never reported who had brought the horse or what went wrong.

Second, the Army parade in DC will remind Washingtonians that they are, in effect, under permanent occupation. They have less sway over the government of their own city than the voters of Alabama, Arizona, and Texas, who elect the members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the successor to the old Committee on the District of Columbia. This may be a bitter pill for them, but the framers knew in 1787 what the French Revolution would soon prove: the only alternative to a capital ruled by the hinterland is to have the hinterland under the effective dictatorship of the capital.

Third, the military-supported ICE operations in Los Angeles may mark a turning point. For the first time in many “low, dishonest decades,” we may finally align immigration policy with the law, public will, and meaningful enforcement. President Biden’s de facto open-border policy produced a surge of crime, insecurity, and strain on public services that cannot be undone by soft measures alone. Mr. Trump has the backing of at least 60 percent of Americans for enforcing immigration laws by all lawful means. That figure should trouble us—because it is not higher—but it also offers hope: even Democrats are struggling to justify their past neglect of border enforcement.

Though I live just outside Washington, I won’t be attending Mr. Trump’s Army parade. This Saturday, like every Saturday, is the day of the King. I pause in my labors of advancing political science and the sovereign American people and celebrate with my fellow Jews the holy Sabbath of the Lord. But while we wait impatiently for His great and terrible day (Malachi 3:23), I would like to wish all my fellow Americans a meaningful—and terrible—June 14th.

Michael S. Kochin is Professor Extraordinarius in the School of Political Science, Government, and International Relations at Tel Aviv University and a visiting scholar at Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, D.C. and at The Catholic University of America.