By
Margaret Hartmann,
senior editor for Intelligencer who has worked at New York since 2012
President Donald Trump has been trying to throw himself a proper authoritarianism-themed birthday bash for years now. It seemed like his wish might have finally come true last year, when he finally held a big military parade in Washington, D.C. But afterward the president “told aides he was disappointed with the marching,” according to the The Wall Street Journal, and the event was marred by massive No Kings Day protests nationwide.
Now Trump has planned an even more ostentatious party for his 80th birthday: UFC Freedom 250, an MMA cage match on the South Lawn of the White House. (Ostensibly the June 14 event is about celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, though it’s happening on the president’s birthday, not the country’s.) But once again, everyone’s trying to ruin Trump’s big day just because he didn’t get proper authorization for the event, it seems kind of corrupt, and it’s generally embarrassing to the nation.
