The Atlantic
Trump’s Gladiator Delusion
The president’s South Lawn fight lacks the ambition of ancient Rome.
Center Left
Raw Story
Trump risks his presidency with a single night of obscenity
Far Left
As Donald Trump becomes increasingly untethered to the reality that every regime can fall, that his followers are not necessarily forever in support such that he need not ever worry about a thing — from Epstein to insider trading — he now confidently takes his vanity to new levels in bringing a new stage and spectacle to the White House."Showmanship," more testosterone, "cool," ever more "I don't care what people think" nonchalance, betting that his loves and needs match the nation's, Trump is — wholly unknowingly — risking his entire presidency over a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House, far better known for its beauty and inherent importance, revered as civic sacred, but on this night risks desecration and disgust. A modern gladiator match looms, one in which you all but expect Trump to reserve the right to turn a thumb up or down over who survives, and yet it may be Trump who dies — symbolically, on this night. Really.The UFC fight planned for Sunday is a bet of breathless proportions with almost no upside for Trump and a wholly overlooked downside that should take everyone to the edge of their seat. While nearly every reader here desperately wants to see Trump gone, it had better come with a strong commitment to overcoming what a "desperate" Trump might do. Still, this part, at least, is coming, inevitable now, ground broken.Just to set the scene, the UFC brings the octagon for what will be a "pay per view" event, PAY per view, as an event supposedly celebrating America's 250th yet, like so much else, becomes fundamentally about him as set on his 80th birthday. And if the pay-per-view event is not enough to offend citizenry, there's also the fact that Paramount, the company streaming the fights, is in the midst of a regulatory battle to merge with Warner Brothers. As ever, the corruption is as in the open as the ring.But that's just the stage. There is real risk in all this pursuit of profit, personal political risk to all involved.First, it's worth noting that such risk comes without any chance Trump wins political capital on this; he's just showing off around the people whom he reveres as still somewhat cooler than him - show them their place. A president's environment, from helicopters to White Houses, can "out-cool" anyone, always.But everyone who loves a night of watching fighters commit what would otherwise be first-degree deadly assault is already a Trump supporter, nearly by definition, someone looking for a dopamine hit, incapable of caring about the implications for the people and society that sanctions such in-your-face brutality, symbolic of the arrogant "beat-your-face" corruption they associate with "winning." And even some Trump supporters will be shocked by the level of violence. This is less boxing, more voyeuristic brutality; it's fighting until the opponent is left indefensible, physically incapable of going on. Perhaps 10 percent of society loves such a potentially deadly spectacle, and yet perhaps the images are unique enough to land on 50% of screens worldwide. The risk is staggering. History is replete with examples of seemingly disproportionate moments that come to define a figure, stuff that really shouldn't matter in comparison to a life's work, yet dominate, as inextricable as unpredictable. Think George H.W. Bush throwing up in the Japanese Prime Minister's lap, something from which he never recovered, the Howard Dean primal scream, Romney's 47% comment, all rather stupid, some totally innocent and unplanned moments among many more important, all taking a person down, no hope of any comeback.Now picture the night. Trump sits beside the ring, smug — loving himself primarily, having a ball on his b-day. Above him, for one night, a fighting cage becomes the center of the world, used by people fully capable of actually killing another person in the ring, though there's very little risk of actual death. But there is a real risk that a fighter takes a savage blow so as to be out cold, falling "dead" visually at least, something seen in movies nearly by the hour, but absolutely gut-wrenching for most seen in real life. It would not be abnormal to see a leg literally break in half, and the NFL even gets squirmy over such moments, losing a few fans every time. Blood bursting from a face, gladiators all, a part of them dying in the ring, and a few all but disturbed people loving the moment, Trump being one. Even that extreme should be nothing. After all, Trump is obstructing an investigation into the world's most notorious child sex trafficker, and yet "moments" happen and, for reasons no one can accurately plan, never mind specifically explain, dominate from that point forward.There is a significant risk of something far more mundane, yet just as dangerous.
