Even in this setting where the president could reliably expect a warm reception, his entrance was met with a mix of cheers and boos.
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Since 2020, the White House’s southern facade has served as the backdrop for a Republican National Convention, a rally preceding a mob attack on the Capitol, and now, a mixed martial arts match celebrating President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
Trump opened his front lawn to his friend Dana White’s sports league for a live spectacle to air on his friend David Ellison’s streaming platform. A clawlike arched canopy loomed over the executive mansion’s iconic colonnade, evoking the spaceship on the movie poster for the 1996 film “Independence Day.” At least nine Cabinet secretaries attended, along with uniformed military service members the Pentagon required to look the part as defined by a prescribed “height-waist ratio.”
The use of White House grounds for a violent sporting event sponsored by light beer and cryptocurrencies was overwhelmingly unpopular, garnering the support of just 31 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of independents in a Reuters-Ipsos poll. The president’s overall approval ratings hit a second-term low in a new NBC survey, and AP-NORC polling showed the blue-collar, independent and young voters who swung to him in the last election increasingly deserting him and his party over dissatisfaction with inflation and the Iran war that worsened it.
Even in this setting where Trump could reliably expect a warm reception, a boo stuck out among the cheers as he entered.
The president wore a UFC lapel pin below his standard American flag as he and White walked out of the Oval Office, through the mansion, and emerged on a balcony as the band played “Hail to the Chief.” The president saluted during the national anthem, while the broadcast showed images of active-duty sailors, and a delta formation of 12 fighter jets roared over the White House as country artist Zac Brown sang “O’er the land of the free.”
“I have seen some surreal things in my life — this is the most surreal,” podcaster Joe Rogan said on the official broadcast. “It doesn’t seem real. None of it seems real. It’s so crazy.”
Sunday’s fight kicked off this summer’s D.C.-anchored celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, which have similarly become politicized by Trump’s central role. Trump allies sidestepped a bipartisan commission and congressional funding to fundraise and organize events through their own vehicle.
Musicians and states dropped out of participating in the 250 events, so that the headliner would be Trump himself holding another rally on the National Mall. Renovations of the Reflecting Pool, the Kennedy Center, parks and fountains, and the White House’s East Wing are absorbing the president’s attention — a distraction in the view of most voters and some Republican strategists and politicians.
Hours before the fight began, Trump heralded an end to the Iran war after months of false starts and shifting deadlines. But the details of the agreement remained concealed on Sunday, with talks ongoing ahead of an official signing scheduled for Friday. The last time the administration announced a deal to stop the bombing and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it unraveled within days.
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Trump spent the earlier hours of his birthday working to preserve the agreement after an Israeli attack in Lebanon. He also watched Fox News, criticizing an interview with Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and praising an appearance by former adviser Victoria Coates. He posted repeatedly on social media denouncing opposition to his embattled acting spy chief, Bill Pulte, and taking a swipe at his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Trump also held a small family dinner.
His 80th could not have been more different from his predecessor’s, the only other president to mark that milestone in office. Public doubts about Trump’s health and fitness have increased, polls show, but concerns do not rival those about Joe Biden.
The White House has called the president’s health “excellent.” Trump insists he feels the same or better than decades ago, and that he’d be the first to admit if he ever felt otherwise. Still, he is frequently reminded of the friends around his age who are getting sick and dying, and he speaks more often of the memory of his parents and his own place in history.
Trump has used settings such as a UFC match, a Formula One race, a football game or a frat house to project an image of enduring vigor, as well as to appeal to young men with unapologetic masculinity, daring critics to recoil so that his team can mock them as weak and effeminate.
“I just can’t believe that we’re at the White House watching UFC fights,” former UFC champion Daniel Cormier said during the broadcast. “I’m so filled with like testosterone I want to kick someone in the chest, it’s crazy.”
On Saturday night, White stood steps from the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial as he separated two competitors about to brawl at the night-before news conference. Speaking to reporters ahead of Sunday’s fight, heavyweight Josh Hokit said he might take off his pants and throw his cup at the president, perhaps as a souvenir for the Oval Office.
Trump’s role has been divisive even within the world of UFC. Featherweight Diego Lopes chafed at reports that his Spanish-language walkout song might offend the president; the Marine Band ended up playing it after all.
One fighter not picked for Sunday’s lineup attributed the decision to his criticisms of Israel and the Iran war. Another said the government’s entry into sports entertainment was “desecrating its role in society.” UFC co-founder Rorion Gracie said he won’t watch the White House event because the sport has gotten too violent.
“First and foremost, got to thank President Trump for making this happen,” middleweight fighter Bo Nickal said about winning his match. “It takes such a special person to be able to have the balls to do something like this.”
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