Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump turned 80 yesterday. He understands that this is much too old for the toughest job in the world. He also knows that Joe Biden was 81 during his 2024 campaign and he mocked Biden for being really old. Not that much aging happens between 80 and 81. Trump even accidentally said he doesn't want people to wish him a happy birthday, because he is not happy about being 80.
Trump's modus operandi is imposing his own reality on the world, but this time it is not working so well. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in February shows that 60% of the country think Trump has become erratic. He falls asleep at cabinet meetings (which are boring), discussions with administration officials about coal (which are boring) and Knicks games (which are definitely not boring). The photo on the left below is at a cabinet meeting. The one on the right is at the only finals game the Knicks lost:
Questions about Trump's health are always batted away with some nonsense about how he is the healthiest president ever. His official physician said that Trump's heart is like that of a 66-year-old, not an 80-year-old—despite Trump's never exercising and having a poor diet.
Trump decided to celebrate his birthday by staging a UFC fight on the White House lawn, where previous presidents had an Easter egg roll for kids. The late Sen. John McCain called UFC "barbaric" and sent letters to all 50 state governors asking them to ban "human cockfighting." The violent UFC event was designed to show how strong and masculine other people are, with the hopes voters will assume Trump is like the fighters. In particular, Trump is trying to win back young, working-class men to the Republican Party with the modern-day equivalent of Roman gladiators... well, gladiating before roaring crowds. The whole thing is a circus, one trading off the presidency. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has likened the rise of UFC to putting a man on the moon. He really wants Trump's endorsement in 2028.
Trump being Trump, the financial aspects of the event are important. The staged event cost over $60 million and was an enormous production with 700 subcontractors that took weeks to set up, including bringing in 500 porta-potties for the 4,000 visitors on the lawn and 100,000 visitors who watched on giant screens on the Ellipse. The publicity UFC and its ruler (and Trump buddy), Dana White, will get from this event is priceless. The UFC fighters will be paid in Trump crypto, giving the fake currency an air of being valuable, which will help Trump sell more of it. It is commercialization of the presidency gone bananas.
But there is
more,
as usual. There are sponsors paying undisclosed sums to have their names shown with the White House as backdrop. These
include Chevron, Exxon, MasterCard and Budweiser. Tickets for ringside seats will cost a pretty penny nickel.
Trump purchased tens of thousands of dollars in stock of UFC's parent company this spring, in hopes the event will give
it a big boost. Saturday evening, there was a $1 million/plate fundraiser. The event will be broadcast on Paramount+,
which is run by Trump's cronies, the Ellisons. UFC and Paramount are working on a $7.7 billion
deal
that would result in UFC events being carried exclusively on Paramount+, a big win for both White and the Ellisons. In
this light, White spending $60 million to stage the UFC event is small potatoes. It is always about the money.
The UFC event did happen, though it was delayed by rain, and the matches were largely underwhelming (two matches ended in the first round, four ended in the second, one—the headliner, and unquestionably the best fight of the night—made it to the fourth). Nominally, this event is about America's 250th birthday, but that will be on July 4, 2026. Yesterday was not a celebration of America, but a celebration of, by, and for Donald J. Trump. We stand by our view that it won't benefit him much politically, if at all. (V)