On his 79th birthday, President Trump spent more than three hours on Saturday taking in the scene at a military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

The event, which was officially billed as a tribute to service and a showcase of American military history, was hailed by the president’s supporters as a show of strength and a savvy recruitment tactic.

But his critics argued that the event was a further politicization of the military, especially after of a tense week in which Mr. Trump deployed the Marines in Los Angeles to quell protests.

Here are key takeaways from the day and the parade:

The day’s events were overshadowed by political violence and war.

News on Saturday was dominated by a manhunt after the assassination of a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota and the attempted assassination of another.

For most of the day, speculation raged about the killing of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shooting of State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were both injured.

At the same time, warfare escalated between Israel and Iran, with growing concerns about the possibility of a wider, regional war that could draw in the United States and other major powers.