Attribution: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Geoff Carter
The United States of America is approaching its semiquincentennial—its two hundred and fiftieth birthday. This is going to be quite the celebration—parts of it have already begun. The reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. has been inadvertently dyed a gangrenous shade of green—not on purpose, but as a result of our president’s profound incompetence and idiocy.
Speaking of idiocy, life seems to be imitating art as our president and his incompetent, corrupt, immoral, cruel, and clueless administration seem determined to fulfill the dire prophecy articulated by Mike Judge in his brilliant satire Idiocracy.
In that film, intelligence and education in America had deteriorated to a point where the president of the United States is a professional wrestler, a twelve-year-old is a member of his Cabinet, and our justice system has become a gladiatorial duel between monster trucks. Law degrees are handed out by a WalMart-like superstore spanning at least one mile.
Some of this still seems to be (so far) a little far-fetched, but much of it is getting far too real. While Cabinet members Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Robert Kennedy, Jr. are not chronological twelve-year-olds, they have often displayed the maturity level of seventh graders—or even elementary schoolers.
For his birthday, President Trump erected an open-air arena he called “the Claw” on the South Lawn of the White House to stage to host an Ultimate Fighting Championship. The fighters prepped themselves in rooms of the White House before entering the arena directly from the Oval Office. They were greeted by 4,300 invited fans including cabinet members, billionaires, and the Republican faithful, entering the arena amidst an extravagant fireworks display. It was a garish and ornate spectacle reminiscent of Roman gladiatorial games.
Compared to recent opening of the Obama Presidential Center, an event steeped with grace, intelligence, elegance, and goodwill, the Trump idiocracy stands out in even more stark relief. Obama is what this country could—and should—be: sophisticated, compassionate, tolerant, and just. But I digress—back to the games.
Let’s compare the Trump gladiatorial spectacle with the camaraderie and bonhomie generated in New York City by their professional basketball team, the surprising miracle Knicks. Winning thirteen out of fourteen playoff games (the lone loss was the game attended by Donald Trump—during which he fell asleep) and staging a series of phenomenally improbable comebacks, the New York Knicks became the darlings of the nation, the underdog’s underdog and won the championship in spectacular fashion.
The city bonded over their team. Watch parties throughout the city were sold out. Crowds gathered outside Madison Square Garden to watch their team, and spontaneous sidewalk celebrations took over entire city blocks. The entire city had a single and a single vision, united by their support of and love for their team.
Strangers in New York City high-fived each other and talked strategy, defense, and the MVP award (and possible sainthood) for Jalen Brunson. Celebrities like Timothee Chalamet caroused and danced with fans over one particularly spectacular win. Neighborhoods came together over their common hopes and unlikely dreams of a championship team. In short, the Knicks’ 2026 playoff run brought people like nothing else.
The United States, Mexico, and Canada are also hosts for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As their teams traveled across the ocean and sometimes halfway around the world, their fans followed and despite fears of visa access, ICE agent disruptions, gun violence, and the price of living in America, they were pleasantly surprised by the warm receptions they received from Americans everywhere. Soccer fans from Argentina, Germany, Morocco, and elsewhere enjoyed the local culture (food mostly) and got to know an America far from the beaten path of traditional tourist destinations like New York City or Orlando, enjoying the people of Dallas, Kansas City, and Miami.
International apprehensions about the recent hostility of the Trump Administration toward its NATO allies and other countries (“s…hole countries” in our president’s words) were generally unfounded, even though citizens from Haiti, the Ivory Coast, Iran, and Senegal have suffered some travel restrictions imposed by the present administration. High ticket prices and extreme heat in some cities have been problematic, but that has not stopped these fans from invading our shores.
According to Darin White, a sports analytic expert, “sports serves that same function for cities, states, and countries. It is often the first meaningful, emotionally charged encounter someone has with a place they might otherwise never have thought much about” (Reuters), but it remains to be seen whether or not the damage caused by Trump’s reckless tariff policy, his overly aggressive stance towards our allies, and our vacillating foreign policy—specifically the Iran War—can be at least partially rehabilitated through American hospitality and goodwill.
As Mr. White stated, sports is one of the few things that brings extremely diverse groups of people together. The World Cup tournament and the Knicks Cinderella story have brought the world (and its very intense NYC international microcosm) together. Scottish fans have reportedly taken over Boston and are being enjoyed by the natives as much as they are enjoying their stay.
Sports is a uniting force, yet Donald Trump, with his touch for destroying almost everything he touches, managed to make a sports event the center of division. It was not particularly the cage match event itself that angered many American citizens; it was the way in which it was staged. Placing “the Claw” smack dab in the middle of the of the White House lawn looked cheap and more than a little tawdry, sort of like having a carnival inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The fact that the fighters were allowed to use parts of the White House itself, including the historic Indian Treaty Room, to warm up was appalling.
The fact that White House served as a background to such brutal cage fighting, that corporate sponsorships were spattered next to some of our country’s most sacred monuments and that instances of casual meanness and malice, such as when one fighter took the microphone and made a cruel comment about Michelle Obama. The whole event was a cheap and vulgar spectacle that would have been more fitting for a white supremacist convention than as a birthday event for a sitting president.
Trump’s handpicked audience included billionaires like media mogul Daniel Ellison and tech guru Mark Zuckerberg. Senators Ted Cruz and John Thune had tickets, as did most members of Trump’s cabinet as well as Vice-President J.D. Vance. This was an audience of the rich, the powerful, and the elites—Trump’s allies.
Nothing could have been in sharper contrast to the camaraderie and goodwill of the playoff miracle in New York City or the gathering of world citizens to celebrate one of the greatest international sports events of the year. The people—all the people, rich and poor, black and white, Christian or Muslim—were as one in support of their team. Trump’s crew is not inclusive, it is not diverse, and it is not democratic.
Trump’s event was not marked by inclusion but by exclusion. His regard for his fellow human beings is measured by their wealth and what they can do for him. His selfishness is staging a party on public property for his own enjoyment is not only crass and vulgar; it is just plain stupid. Ignorant. It is yet another symptom of the idiocracy he has brought to this great land and our storied history.
Notes
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-80th-ufc-white-house-724c875d7a7cbfed087e179e8f689ec0
- https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/us/ufc-trump-white-house.html
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2026/06/06/knicks-fans-winning-new-york-city-comes-together/90433189007/
- https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/how-warm-world-cup-welcome-is-endearing-us-fans-2026-06-20/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/us/ufc-trump-white-house.html?eafs_enabled=false
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