President Donald Trump’s birthday UFC cage match project is causing confusion.

“The ‘UFC Freedom 250’ fight, which just so happens to be scheduled for Trump’s 80th birthday, is a part of the MAGA-ified America 250 celebrations,” The Daily Beast reports. “The makeshift venue is expected to be able to hold 4,500 guests, far lower than Trump’s wish for it to hold 20,000 spectators.”

“I think it’s gonna be the biggest event we’ve ever had at the White House,” Trump said earlier this month. “I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets.”

Event-related activities will take place around Washington, D.C.

“Weigh-ins for the fight will take place at the Lincoln Memorial,” The Daily Beast noted. “Trump has also said that the White House Ellipse grounds will be made available to host a ‘UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest,’ where as many as 100,000 people could watch the fights on TV screens.”

UFC CEO Dana White acknowledged that the Fight Night event could harm the president, The Daily Beast also reported.

“I bet he probably wishes that this wasn’t happening, but it’s happening,” White told Rolling Stone on Tuesday.

But when Trump White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted video of the construction of a temporary cage-match arena on the South Lawn of the White House, supporters appeared confused.

“Happening now, from the West Wing Colonnade—Looking out toward the South Lawn of The White House,” Scavino wrote, adding a #UFC hashtag.

“What is it?” one commenter asked.

“Thought it was a rollercoaster!” said another.

“Gosh, it looks like a big circle with seats on it. You could just plot people on the seats. Take them to the top and who knows if they’ll be hanging out up there 😂or what😂😂 wouldn’t this be a great idea if this were actually the military tribunal’s in front of the whole world,” another wrote.

“Hangings,” wrote yet another.

Others suggested it might be a circus, a portal, or a piece from a time-traveling device. Some mentioned the movies “Stargate” and “Contact.”

 

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In some ways, President Donald Trump’s Wednesday Cabinet meeting was typical — officials took turns praising the president.

The New York Times reported that it had “reviewed over a dozen hours of cabinet meeting footage to analyze how his administration spoke to him. On average, at least one of every six sentences either flattered Mr. Trump, gave him credit or criticized his political opponents.”

But Wednesday’s meeting had one important difference: Trump promoted a new Trump hat that retails for $55 on the Trump Store. The hats were “displayed prominently in front of senior officials around the table as cameras rolled,” according to The Daily Beast.

“President Donald Trump has turned his latest Cabinet meeting into a merchandising opportunity to line his pockets,” The Daily Beast reported, noting that “new ‘USA 250 Anniversary’ hats were displayed prominently in front of senior officials around the table as cameras rolled.”

New York Post White House correspondent Emily Goodin on social media noted that there was “new merch” at the meeting. “Each cabinet member has one of these hats and a challenge coin.”

Fox Business White House correspondent Edward Lawrence reported that Trump had signed some of the hats.

CNN’s DJ Judd added that the “new USA 250 hat is for sale on the Trump org website and can be yours for $55 plus shipping.” 

President Trump’s online store has added more than 600 new products since he returned to office in January 2025.

Government ethics watchdogs “who have long accused the president of leveraging public office for private gain,” are likely to criticize this latest effort to monetize his presidency, The Daily Beast added.

Pointing to the 622 new products being sold on the Trump Store, the “official retail website of The Trump Organization,” CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called it “an unprecedented level of monetization of the presidency, even by the standards of Trump’s own first term.”

Close-up of the red America 250 hats in the Trump Cabinet meeting …. pic.twitter.com/OBE0gDKF70

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) May 27, 2026

Image via Reuters 

President Donald Trump is going on offense against America’s partners in NATO.

The Commander in Chief, “stung by allies who haven’t been keen to fight another war in the Middle East,” as The Daily Beast reports, is pulling military assets vital to Europe’s protection — and vital to U.S. interests — out of Europe. Among them, a significant number of bombers, warships, fighter jets, refueling aircraft, submarines, destroyers, and roughly 5,000 troops.

The Daily Beast calls the moves “Snubbed Trump’s Petty Revenge Plot.”

While it would take an act of Congress to withdraw from NATO itself, withdrawing military assets is entirely up to the discretion of the Commander in Chief and the Secretary of Defense.

The president has become “incensed by European allies’ refusal to back his war in Iran, Der Spiegel reported,” The Daily Beast noted.

Trump, a strong critic of NATO for years, has, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, become “increasingly critical” of NATO, its refusal to assist U.S. efforts in the Iran war, and what he sees as NATO member countries’ refusal to spend sufficiently on their militaries and defense.

“Key members such as Spain and Italy incensed the president, 79, by closing their airspace and air bases to U.S. military aircraft taking part in the bombardment of Iran,” The Daily Beast noted. “That followed tension created by Trump’s repeated musings about seizing control of Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark.”

Secretary Rubio told Fox News that the “problem with NATO, unfortunately—and I’ve been a supporter of NATO throughout my career in the Senate—and one of the reasons I supported NATO is it gave us basing rights.”

He explained that those rights gave the U.S. a “contingency” for when flying to areas like the Middle East. European bases can offer U.S. forces staging and refueling areas.

“And so, when you have NATO partners denying you the use of those bases, when the primary reason that NATO is good for America is now being denied to us by Spain, as an example, then what’s the purpose of the alliance?” Rubio asked.

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