Trump celebrates his birthday with taxpayer-funded blood match
The president’s event, UFC Freedom 250 was a marketing move to benefit Trump financially — and to gain back lost support.
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Sunday marked both Flag Day and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. To celebrate, Trump threw a party for himself at the White House that included a full card of UFC fights at a cost to taxpayers of $60 million. The president also tied the event to the summer-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States itself.
For Sunday’s special occasion of Flag Day and Trump’s birthday, the president’s online merchandising store offered discounts of 50 percent on drinkware and clothing with “Trump 250” branding.
Meanwhile, thousands gathered to watch the fights and accompanying events, mostly on giant screens because the 4,300 seats in the arena that was built on the White House lawn at taxpayer expense were taken by members of the U.S. military, and select invitees of Trump, UFC CEO Dana White, as well as other VIPs. The UFC website called this event a “once-in-a-generation celebration of the American fighting spirit.” Even though the average American had no choice but to watch from afar.
Despite costing at least $60 million in taxpayer dollars — and even with UFC expected to lose millions because tickets were invite only — holding UFC Freedom 250 at the White House was a marketing and advertising windfall for Trump, White, and scores of others in the president’s orbit. Everyone from tech CEOs like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to major brands like Budweiser, to foreign governments like the Saudis and emerging-market ventures that offer online gambling and cryptocurrency services benefitted from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to advertise at a sporting event held with the White House as backdrop.
Mark Shapiro, president of UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings, called the event the “greatest earned marketing tool of all time.” In March, one of Trump’s many brokerage accounts purchased as much as $50,000 in stock in TKO Group, according to The New York Times, giving the president a concrete, if small, interest in the success not just of UFC, but Sunday’s marquee event.
Since the fights were announced in the spring, the event has been touted by Trump and the White House as a celebration for all Americans. Trump said in an interview, “They’ll have 100,000 people down by the Ellipse with screens. And it’s all free. It’s going to be great.” But only those who gathered at the Ellipse just outside the main arena area were able to watch the event for free.
There, UFC fans could register for one of 85,000 passes to watch the fights. Of the 4,300 seats in the arena, almost half — 1,900 tickets — were reserved for Trump, White and TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel. Another 1,000 tickets were reserved for members of the military, who had to pay for their own travel costs to attend the event, according to the Washington Post. This left a small number of VIP tickets available, which cost as much as $1.5 million.
For those who wanted to watch at home, a subscription to the Paramount+ streaming service was required. Paramount+ falls under the parent company Paramount Skydance, which is owned by David Ellison, the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison. Last week, the Justice Department announced it had approved a historic merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros., giving Ellison even greater control over what Americans watch since their company took over CBS News last year.
LA Times culture writer Mary McNamara criticized UFC Freedom 250 and said “it served as an almost-6-hour ad for the UFC.” But it was much more than that.
Along with the financial ties and marketing for Trump supported brands, this was an opportunity to gain back support from likely young white men. Over the course of his second term, Trump’s approval ratings have sunk largely due to events like the release of the Epstein files and the war in Iran. UFC has been hugely popular among younger men, along with online sports betting. Sunday’s event was designed to appeal to this core base of Republican voters.
A celebration of corruption
Within the ring itself there were ads for online gambling site, Polymarket. The company has been criticized for its role in growing gambling addiction, especially among the young men who overwhelmingly use the service — the same men who Republicans need to maintain their grip on power in Congress. Last week, the Trump administration approved rules that favored the online gambling industry.
An advertisement on the fighting surface for “Riyadh Season” drew viewers’ attention to the state-sponsored festival held in the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Trump family has a long and profitable relationship with the Saudis, who have never taken responsibility for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khasshogi in 2018.
Padding on the cage surrounding the ring featured ads from Bud Light, which has apparently rebounded from the outrage from Trump and the American right that stemmed from the company’s 2023 ad campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Even the Trump family’s own company, World Liberty Financial, got in on the advertising opportunity. World Liberty was among the sponsors of the event, and fighters at UFC Freedom 250 received bonuses in the form of cryptocurrency held by the company. Along with Trump’s recent purchase of TKO stock, World Liberty’s stake in the event gave the president even more financial ties to its success. Trump personally owns at least $50 million in World Liberty stock, according to his financial disclosures. Almost half of World Liberty is owned by the brother of the president of the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The development fund of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, counts the UAE among its most significant backers.
Trump’s Treasury Department just approved access to banking privileges for World Liberty, allowing the company to expand its services.
Controversial construction
As with previous projects Trump has facilitated during his second term in office, there has been much criticism and disagreement about Sunday’s event and the 92-foot tall cage — called “the Claw” — that was constructed on the South Lawn of the White House. The use of taxpayer dollars and the event’s location at the White House was at the center of a lawsuit filed by the Public Integrity Project. The lawsuit claimed not only that the event was a “corrupt scheme” created for the benefit of private parties like Trump and White, but that the entire event violated National Park Service regulations. The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, an Obama appointee, on the grounds that Public Citizen did not prove “irreparable harm.”
In its lawsuit, the Public Integrity Project noted that the National Environmental Policy Act requires damage assessments to be completed for projects like “the Claw,” as well as for Trump’s ballroom. The organization noted in its lawsuit that it’s unclear whether any assessments were completed ahead of Sunday’s event.
This alleged flouting of rules and laws regarding UFC Freedom 250 is in line with nearly all of Trump’s construction projects, which have been rushed through by Trump even as a majority of Americans have said they don’t support them. Rules that Trump and his administration have sidestepped or outright ignored are in place to protect important landmarks and federal land, the Public Integrity Project argued in its lawsuit. The organization added that Trump is bypassing rules and procedures in order for Trump to take credit for completion of projects.
The group also expressed concern that the event would damage the South Lawn and noted that the Trump administration has not publicly said who will pay for repairs that could cost as much as $700,000.
Trumps latest controversial construction projects
With all of the major news related to the Trump administration, we cover a variety of topics here at American Doom to keep readers like you up to date on the various updates and changes that come each day, big…
Critics of Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House and construct Trump’s new ballroom have the same complaints. It is not clear who will be paying for the project — although taxpayers will be on the hook for as much as $300 million, according to the Washington Post — and an important part of the White House is now gone forever.
Trump’s ballroom isn’t the only project under fire from watchdog organizations and average citizens. Three Vietnam War veterans have sued to block Trump’s proposed “Arc de Trump.” So far their motions to halt construction have been denied by Tanya S. Chutkan, who was appointed by Barack Obama. Like Trump’s ballroom, the project is also expected to be paid for by a mix of both taxpayer dollars and private donations.
While Trump continues his construction of the ballroom, he’s also completed his refurbishment of the reflecting pool on the National Mall. The project was originally estimated by Trump to cost $1.8 million, but ended up costing $14.2 million. Trump, of course, said the new renovations have had “rave reviews” even though The Guardian reported that “Some of the first visitors declared themselves underwhelmed by the 2,000 square foot pool’s somewhat dull color.”
Despite all the money and effort put into these renovations, the water is already turning green. Theories as to why the pool is changing color include the recent change of color to “American Flag Blue.” A marine biologist told Newsweek that the color has created a darker surface, raising temperatures and allowing for better conditions for the algae to bloom even faster. Algae has always been a problem in the pool, but the darker color is doing nothing to help the issue.
As Trump continues moving forward with his controversial projects, his approval ratings continue to drop. Now, he’s planning another major event in Washington, with the cost to taxpayers unknown.
The president announced on Truth Social on Monday night that he will host “the most spectacular Trump rally of them all” on July 4.
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