Donald Trump would turn up at the opening of a supermarket in Des Moines if he thought there was positive publicity to be had. Yet, he passed up the global platform of the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Los Angeles, where the American hosts got their party started, for a UFC launch on the White House Lawn. That’s the equivalent of choosing school sport’s day over the Olympics.
In his stead, the US administration sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy and Head of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to sound the trumpets. Trump’s absence in Los Angeles was all the more remarkable since it falls a day before his 80th birthday, which he shares with Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the United States Standard in 1777.
Perhaps it was the irreverent chorus that rang about Madison Square Garden during the national anthem ahead of the third NBA Finals game in New York this week that weakened his appetite for preening. Of course Trump interpreted the reaction to his appearance as affirmation, which is consistent with his penchant for cognitive restructuring.
Trump is ordinarily an enthusiastic hijacker of big sport, immersing himself, for example, in the presentations at the final of the Club World Cup last summer. He was present too at the US Open tennis tournament in early September and later that month shut down the airspace around New York to attend the Ryder Cup at neighbouring Bethpage, which he hoped would launch a successful campaign.
