Donald Trump says he has cancelled plans for a Veterans Day military parade, citing the “ridiculously high” price tag.

The president spoke the day after US officials said the November event could cost 92 million dollars (£72 million), more than three times the price first suggested by the White House.

Mr Trump accused local politicians in Washington DC of price-gouging, but preliminary estimates from the Pentagon showed more than half the price tag would come from military aircraft, equipment, personnel and other support.

The remainder would be borne by other agencies and largely involve security costs.

The Defence Department had announced on Thursday there would be no parade in 2018.

Mr Trump tweeted that something could be scheduled next year when the price “comes WAY DOWN”. He did not explain how the costs would be reduced.

He said he would instead attend an event at Andrews Air Force Base on another day and travel to Paris for November 11 events marking the centennial of the end of fighting in the First World War.

The president added: “Now we can buy some more jet fighters!” He did not offer additional details.

Colonel Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said the military and the White House had “agreed to explore opportunities in 2019”, an announcement that came several hours after reports about the projected parade price tag.

Officials said the parade plans had not been approved by defence secretary Jim Mattis, who said on Thursday that he had seen no estimate and questioned media reports on the reported 92 million dollar cost.

The Pentagon chief told reporters that whoever leaked the number to the press was “probably smoking something that is legal in my state but not in most” — a reference to his home state of Washington, where marijuana use is legal.

Jim Mattis
Jim Mattis dismissed the reported cost of the parade (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)

Mr Mattis, who spoke before the announcement that the parade would not happen in 2018, added: “I’m not dignifying that number with a reply.

“I would discount that, and anybody who said (that number), I’ll almost guarantee you one thing: they probably said, ‘I need to stay anonymous’. No kidding, because you look like an idiot. And number two, whoever wrote it needs to get better sources. I’ll just leave it at that.”

The parade’s cost has become a politically charged issue, particularly after the Pentagon cancelled a major military exercise planned for August with South Korea, after Mr Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Mr Trump said the drills were provocative and that dumping them would save the US “a tremendous amount of money”. The Pentagon later said the Korea drills would have cost 14 million dollars (£11 million).