Trump Celebrates 80th Birthday with Cage Fighting Show at White House

US President Donald Trump marked his 80th birthday on Sunday by hailing an initial agreement to end the war in Iran and staging a once unfathomable cage-fighting show on the White House's storied South Lawn.

Trump had been touting the emerging deal for weeks and the continuing conflict threatened to overshadow the UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza, where combatants inside a wire-mesh octagon tried to punch, kick, chop and pummel each other into submission.

Trump and UFC boss Dana White walked together from the Oval Office to the Blue Room Balcony to survey the Octagon, standing for the national anthem as fighter jets thundered overhead.

More than 4,000 spectators were invited to a temporary arena under “The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lighting, sound equipment and large screens. Thousands more watched on big screens from the nearby Ellipse.

“This event is a one of one event, incredible event,” said White, a close friend of the president's, during a Friday night hype session at the Lincoln Memorial, where pairs of fighters shoved and scuffled for the cameras under the stoic gaze of Honest Abe’s marble likeness.

Many of the winning fighters thanked Trump and God. Heavyweight Josh Hokit took it further with an extraordinary attack, adding an unfounded right-wing conspiracy theory about a former first lady: “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”

Hokit also headed over to Trump and placed a chain around the president's neck.

Wearing a full suit and tie despite the heat and humidity, Trump spent most of his time sitting stoned-faced, watching the action through wire-mesh cage.

During another break in Sunday's action, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg approached Trump and spoke with him for several minutes.

Later, when American Sean O’Malley fought Canadian Aiemann Zahabi, Trump donned a white USA hat. After Zahabi won, he shook Trump’s hand and saluted the president. A short time later, as midnight approached, a fighter jet boomed over the octagon.

As Diego Lopes was defeating American Steve Garcia in the opening fight, the president could be seen speaking to first lady Melania Trump. After Bo Nickal knocked out Kyle Daukaus in the second fight, Nickal went over to Trump and kneeled down, chatting briefly.

“I gotta thank President Trump for making this happen,” Nickal said in a subsequent interview, as Trump grinned. Nickal added that the president is a “special person,” before Trump-favourite “YMCA" played.

The president sought to tie Sunday’s event to larger, monthslong celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

But it was so geared toward himself that the G7 summit for leaders of industrialized nations pushed back their get-together so that the president could attend his cage-match party and then fly to Europe for the meetings.

The weekend wasn't all smiles for Trump, though. Crews pried Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center about a mile from Trump’s birthday bash after a judge ruled naming it after the president had gone too far.

And, before the fight began, UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland — an outspoken critic of Israel — was escorted out of the Ellipse by a crowd of law enforcement officers.

It was all a very long way from when Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, turned 80 in November 2022. Biden celebrated with a private family brunch at the White House, laying bare just how much and how quickly things have changed.

Asked about the contrast, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster called the UFC event “one of the most entertaining nights in American history.”

“Having this spectacle take place at the people’s house on Flag Day during our nations’ semi-quincentennial anniversary is a fitting tribute,” Schuster said in a statement.