Harv's Corner 06/01/2026

Harv's Corner

Transforming the White House front lawn into a gladiatorial arena for a presidential "Cage Match" is a profound degradation of the dignity, history, and global standing of the United States. The executive mansion is not a reality television set; it is a symbol of democratic governance, constitutional order, and the sober responsibility of leadership. Reducing the presidency to a spectacle of physical violence and sensationalized entertainment cheapens the office, makes a mockery of democratic institutions, and projects a message of volatility and cheap theatricality to the rest of the world. True leadership unites and elevates a nation through reason, diplomacy, and strength of character, whereas staging a physical brawl on the doorstep of democracy reduces the highest office in the land to a circus side-show.

Birthday Bash:
Celebrating with cage fighting is right on brand for the president
Dan Rather and Team Steady
May 28, 2026

If you were to drive down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., today, expecting to catch a glimpse of the White House, too bad. Blocking your view is a temporary (we hope) television production set. One of America’s most revered architectural treasures is becoming unrecognizable and, for the time being, unobservable.

The People’s House — inside and out — has become all about Donald Trump. If anyone thinks this president is working full-time to help average Americans, the above photo is evidence to the contrary.

Trump’s decision to host a mixed martial arts (MMA) cage fight on the South Lawn of the White House is a conspicuous reminder of his priorities.

For those who don’t follow MMA, it is a brutal, full-contact combat sport where two people are locked in a cage and fight until someone wins. This is not old-school Ali vs. Frazier boxing, but full-on, brutal fighting where combatants can punch, kick, elbow, and knee their opponents, even drawing blood.

​It’s being held on the president’s 80th birthday and as a part of the celebration of America’s 250th. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a for-profit enterprise erecting an arena complete with an octagonal stage, a wire cage, and seating for 4,300 people, all surrounded by a giant, stars-and-stripes-spangled claw that dwarfs the White House. This is just the latest example of Trump’s narcissistic desecration of the nation’s Capitol.

Gold-plating the Oval Office wasn’t enough, nor was adding his name to the Kennedy Center, or paving over the Rose Garden, and tearing down the East Wing. Hanging banners of his scowling face from federal office buildings and erecting a massive arch in his honor also weren’t sufficient to stroke his gigantic ego.

A spectacle celebrating brutality might do the trick. Oh, and the participants’ weigh-in will take place at the Lincoln Memorial. The fights will be broadcast by CBS and Paramount+, which have been working overtime to please the president by decimating CBS News and dumping Stephen Colbert.

The price tag for this veneration of violence is reportedly $60 million paid for by the UFC, which says it is “an investment for the long term.” They won’t have to wait that long.

You can’t buy the kind of publicity the president is providing. He is personally deciding who gets tickets, many of which will go to members of the military.

​But don’t worry, Trump sycophants will be able to kiss the ring by purchasing “high roller” VIP packages costing $1.5 million each.

If you’re not lucky enough to garner a ring-side seat, you and 85,000 of your closest friends might be able to nab free access to the live simulcast on the Ellipse across the street from the main event.

The president’s penchant for showmanship rather than leadership is coming in handy. Like a carnival barker, he is calling the fight the “biggest event” the UFC has ever staged, and he is hawking seats.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump enthused. I am not disparaging MMA fighting nor its fans; however, the White House’s celebration of America’s semiquincentennial is not an appropriate venue for a violent commercial enterprise peddled by the president. The South Lawn is usually home to family-friendly fare like the Easter Egg roll and the Christmas tree lighting. Past presidents have held events there, too, but none have supported a for-profit organization. Instead, they championed American arts and ingenuity.

President Jimmy Carter threw a jazz concert. President Barack Obama hosted South by South Lawn, a technology and music festival.

Like Roman gladiators fighting in the Colosseum, Trump’s state-sponsored combat show advances the idea of the “warrior ethos” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is so fond of blustering about.

Being entertained by grown men beating each other to a pulp is the president’s version of projecting strength. As is usually the case, Trump has an ulterior motive for insisting on and promoting a White House cage match: playing to his base, or perhaps better put, shoring up his slipping base.

Young, white, non-college-educated men are the backbone of the MAGA movement. They propelled Trump to office twice. But his vice grip on this group has loosened. Since returning to the Oval Office, Trump’s popularity among non-college-educated whites has dropped from 63% to 49%, according to a new CNN poll. Guess who makes up the vast majority of the MMA fandom? Young, white men. And the sport’s popularity among that group is increasing.

Trump and the UFC have a symbiotic relationship built on bloodsport. He is using the organization to wrangle his core demographic, while the UFC is galvanizing MAGA to grow its popularity.

The White House event is a politicized, openly partisan production meant to bring the boys back into the tent. It is also a recruiting ground for new blood. Far-right extremist groups enlist at MMA and boxing gyms and on online “fascist fitness” chat groups. As reported in The Guardian, these groups emphasize transforming their members into combatants who might be asked to commit acts of violence for the cause. “These fitness groups frame individual self-improvement as a part of a wider political struggle, creating fresh motivation and a sense of purpose for people who believe that physical confrontation and violence are legitimate and necessary. They have become a space for far-right activists to mobilize,” said Patrik Hermansson, senior researcher at the anti-fascist group, Hope Not Hate.

Trump is not just celebrating the American Revolution with this UFC event; he is trying to foment a new one of his own. If that sounds alarmist, remember that he has done it before, on January 6, 2021.
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