The violent spectacle offered at the Colosseum once served to distract citizens from the failings of Roman emperors. On June 14, US President Donald Trump is celebrating his 80th birthday like an emperor in the Colosseum, hosting duels and other spectacles in the house where Thomas Jefferson and James Madison once slept… with no compensation.
On Sunday, June 14, an octagonal cage was set up on the South Lawn of the White House, where Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, a martial arts competition, will exchange blows.
Each athlete must have Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Freestyle Wrestling, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills.
It is recalled that Trump’s birthday coincides with Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the starlet 249 years ago.
According to information, the event was organized by Trump and his (UFC) CEO, Dana White. The seven-fight program will culminate with a title unification bout between UFC lightweight champion Ilya Topuria and interim champion Justin Gaethje.
The UFC is a huge and extremely profitable international company, and certainly, this event will hardly appeal to all Americans. 52% of Americans disapprove of such an event at the White House, while 22% are not sure. Even some UFC fighters, loyal to the sport’s reputation for being rough and libertarian, have criticized the White House fight night, calling it an invitation to corruption (Bryce Mitchell) and an inappropriate entertainment for billionaires and political elites, akin to “The Hunger Games” (Brandon Royval).
“Needless to say, Trump’s personal and professional identity is closely tied to this form of combat spectacle. Not just the sport itself, but the spectacle, the audience, the dramatization,” says Hunter, recalling that before becoming president, Trump was already appearing in front of thousands of spectators in arenas and millions of television viewers — through WWE, exchanging punches himself.
Betting, Sponsors, and Conflicts of Interest
But another element that makes this event grotesque is that the logos of Polymarket, the betting platform where participants have already bet millions of dollars on the games, will be everywhere.
The floor of the octagon that Trump ordered built at the White House will host advertisements for Stake, an online betting company.
In 1992, Congress pushed through bipartisan legislation that banned sports betting in almost every state except Nevada, underscoring how politically unpopular its support was at the time. Only Oregon, Delaware, and Montana had limited exemptions.
But since the Supreme Court struck down the law in 2018, 39 states have legalized sports betting, and gamblers have wagered more than $650 billion, according to estimates from the Legal Sports Report. The ruling has allowed the rise of companies like FanDuel and DraftKings, which have made it possible to bet directly from your mobile phone.
Online searches for help with gambling addiction, such as “am I addicted to gambling?”, have increased by a total of 23% nationwide since the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling, according to a 2025 study by the Qualcomm Institute and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
This is America
In his article, American art critic Philip Kennicott cannot hide his disgust at what is happening in the White House (“The White House UFC fights are a spectacle. And a reflection of America“).
“For those outraged by this invasion of commercial entertainment on National Park Service land and the injection of a Las Vegas-style spectacle into the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the American nation, the insanity of a UFC fight in the White House is self-evident. One only has to look at before and after photos: from the old imposing and serene isolation of the presidential residence, to today’s mixture of construction site chaos and Times Square glitz within the White House grounds.
The UFC distills the collective character out of sports, limiting it to individual wrestling. It prioritizes concepts like endurance, determination, and pain.
UFC fighting is not about celebrating the founding myths of American democracy.
Rather, it inhabits a landscape of darker myths: the enduring struggle of the frontier, the pseudo-chivalric culture and bitterness of the post-Civil War American South, the Darwinian drama of survival in a world full of enemies, chaos, and conflict.
The highlight of the evening was the shameful statement
The highlight of the evening was the shameful statement made by a wrestler (no need to mention his name) about the former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama: “That Michelle Obama is a man!!”
Would you, President Trump, like such statements to be made about the current First Lady of the United States and your wife, Melania Trump, when you leave the White House and are no longer President of the United States?
Don’t urge President Trump to “hide” behind the wrestler and say that you didn’t say it. The host is responsible for his guests. However, the White House belongs to the American People and you have been their guest for four years. You are not in your personal residence. The True Leader unites, not divides!!!
Does Donald Trump deserve to be the leader of the USA?
