{"id":49515,"date":"2026-06-14T12:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=49515"},"modified":"2026-06-14T12:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:58:53","slug":"trump-turns-80-with-cage-fight-at-the-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/trump-turns-80-with-cage-fight-at-the-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump turns 80 with cage fight at the White House"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday in typically forceful style on Sunday, as the oldest US president ever to take office holds a bloody cage match on the White House lawn.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented “UFC Freedom 250” event will see 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship stars beat each other to a pulp in a giant arena called The Claw.<\/p>\n

Costing $60 million, it’s linked to this year’s festivities for the 250th anniversary of US independence — but it also happens to fall on the day that Trump enters his ninth decade.<\/p>\n

Critics have derided the violent extravaganza in America’s most famous backyard, saying it is in poor taste during a war with Iran that has sent prices soaring for ordinary people.<\/p>\n

Trump may clinch a long-sought peace deal with Iran on his big day, although Tehran has cast doubt on that timing.<\/p>\n

The billionaire president — who has deep ties with a sport whose young male fans reflect his own political base — defended the UFC event as a unique spectacle.<\/p>\n

“This is going to be an event you’re really gonna like,” Trump said as he hosted some of the muscle-bound, bare-knuckle fighters in the Oval Office in May.<\/p>\n

The White House says the UFC is bearing the entire cost.\u00a0UFC chief content officer Craig Borsari denied blending sport with politics.<\/p>\n

“The way we look at this is we have an unbelievable, incredibly unique opportunity to celebrate this country and our athletes,” Borsari told a news conference this week.<\/p>\n

– ‘Great fighting machine’ –<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a dramatic touch, some of the top fighters taking part in Sunday’s event are reportedly set to emerge from the Oval Office itself before marching out to the historic South Lawn.<\/p>\n

The fights themselves will take place in the Octagon, an eight-sided wire mesh cage, surrounded by seats for more than 4,000 spectators.<\/p>\n

UFC combatant Michael Chandler, who is fighting on Sunday, said it was the “biggest fight event in combat sports history.”<\/p>\n

French fighter Ciryl Gane also said he was focusing on the sporting element.<\/p>\n

“We’re not in politics in any way but we have the opportunity to be exposed to the eyes of the world — we have to take it,” he told AFP earlier this month.<\/p>\n

There will be a nod to the 250th celebrations with historical “vignettes” between bouts, Axios reported, and there will also be military bands, a US military flyover and parachute display and a 10-minute fireworks finale.<\/p>\n

– ‘Big flashy show’ –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another battle has already been won. A US judge on Friday rejected a bid by two local residents to halt the fight on the grounds that the event was corrupt.<\/p>\n

Trump’s birthday fight has already taken over much of downtown Washington.<\/p>\n

The fighters are being weighed in outside the Lincoln Memorial, and there’s space for some 125,000 people to watch the event on giant screens on the National Mall.<\/p>\n

The macho spectacle has also distracted from questions about Trump’s health as he turns 80.<\/p>\n

Trump loves to compare his virility to Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, who was forced to drop his bid for a second term after a disastrous debate with the Republican.<\/p>\n

But from bruised hands to a vein condition in his legs and apparent sleepiness in meetings, Trump has also had a number of issues, even though his doctor says he’s in excellent health.<\/p>\n

Trump admitted that he was “not happy about that birthday that I’m having,” in a video posted by one of his officials this week. “It’s not a number I like, but I’m here nevertheless.”<\/p>\n

In fact the former reality TV star will be front and center throughout the gore and glitz, as he always is.<\/p>\n

“He’s treating the presidency the way he treats his previous career, a big flashy show,” Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media, told AFP.<\/p>\n

For his last birthday, Trump oversaw an unprecedented military parade in Washington, marking the 250th anniversary of the US army.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday in typically forceful style on Sunday, as the oldest US president ever to take office holds a bloody cage match on the White House lawn. The unprecedented “UFC Freedom 250” event will see 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship stars beat each other to a pulp in a giant arena called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49517,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49515\/revisions\/49517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}