Trump risks his presidency with a single night of obscenity
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. A fighter who is already uniquely unlikable wins a match and climbs up the cage, blood pouring from his face, and frighteningly screams in a horrifying way, pointing at people, genuinely disturbed, the camera pans to Trump, who's chuckling with buddies while applauding. A world whispers, "What the f*&% did I just see?"
And even if Trump survives such accidental moments, there is the absolutely planned moment when the viewer sees that lawn, so associated with pride, now taken down to carnival, and an extremely ugly carnival at that. Fighters may actually emerge for matches from the Oval Office - it's being strongly considered. Don't think for a second there isn't a reservoir of "offense taken" by formerly proud Americans, even some Trump voters, who now "see" what they've only before felt, "Okay, we've gone too far, I gotta get out."
Trump is already reeling under terrible economic anxiety, polling as low as 35% in approval ratings, getting chipped away by one or two percent a month. This is the type of thing that could remove five or six of those points overnight. Give it another month to absorb with a "last one out the door" effect, and he crumbles, perhaps into the low 20s, with Congress and the people having to move fast, elections still oncoming, and an economy already out of control.
Is this event now likely to do it? No, probably not, but again, historic moments hit almost by accident. This "moment," however, is nearly invited. There's no chance he emerges somehow better off. He recklessly makes this bet, believing that nearly all people are fundamentally just like him, and most people like what he likes, act as he acts, perhaps never more wrong. At best, at absolute best, it's a non-issue.
At worst, we really don't know. Yes, it could lead to his collapse. Good. But again, it risks what a truly desperate, addled man, with a history of absolute selfish panic - think January 6th, might do as he literally fights to define the rest of his life. We will take his collapse over the ongoing pain, but only when soberly staring at the fact that we'll be tested as a nation, a test we've failed for nearly ten years now, a test in which we're the ones taking punch after punch, beaten, and questions remain as to whether we'll be able to get up.
We must all understand that just because Trump has, over and over and over, absorbed Access Hollywood moments, the January 6th "fight" for the Capitol, crimes in plain sight, obstruction of the Epstein investigation, the pattern never means that he must forever get away with everything, that history remains wholly incapable of tripping him up, or even beating him down.
The bet is just breathless. The images are already trickling in. The event inevitable. No gain, everything to lose. There is little chance anyone can specifically predict what might do it, but as has been said here over and over, with a crumbling economy, the "turn" on Trump becomes increasingly predictable, his full survival unlikely, knocked out in the political ring, perhaps fighting for his life in horrific ways. But this moment is certainly one to be watched.
But don't watch too closely. Perhaps, this time, we throw up. He falls down.
Jason Miciak is a Raw Story Columnist, former editor at Occupy Democrats, an author, political consultant, attorney, single parent girldad. Follow on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com
Tara Dublin/X