Trump’s Colosseum
For years, Trump has used UFC appearances to burnish his image and drown out scandal. Now, as war with Iran drags on with no end in sight, he’s once again retreating to the roar of the octagon.
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After opening the week by threatening annihilation — warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in Iran if the country’s regime does not surrender to the U.S. — Donald Trump ended it in familiar territory: cageside at a UFC fight.
The U.S. president attended UFC 327 in Miami on Saturday evening with secretary of state Marco Rubio, US ambassador to India Sergio Gor, and several members of his family. It was Trump’s first appearance at a major sporting event since launching a war alongside Israel against Iran last month.
And yet, as Trump took in the fights at the Kaseya Center, his vice president JD Vance announced that the U.S. had failed to reach a deal with Iran to bring an end to the war following marathon negotiations in Pakistan. Vance blamed the failure on Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, adding that the breakdown in talks was “bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
While the war decimated Iran’s political leadership and destroyed about a third of the country’s missile arsenal, Americans are also facing the grim reality of Trump’s war in Iran. With rising inflation and soaring gas prices to travel disruptions and market panic due to fear of a prolonged conflict, Americans are blaming Trump for dragging them into an unnecessary war.
In a poll released on April 1 by CNN/SSRS., Trump received his worst approval rating on the economy across both presidencies: 31%. His overall approval rating was 35%. Even the share of Republicans who strongly approve of his job performance has dropped to 43%, from 52% in January. Trump has also faced calls for impeachment from Democrats and some of his longtime supporters over his threat to commit genocide in Iran.
And yet, despite the difficult political circumstances, Trump still found time for his cagefighting constituency at the UFC. On Saturday night, Trump received a warm welcome from fight fans, albeit not as loud as past events. There was also a smattering of boos— a rarity at UFC events, especially in his adopted home state.
Trump has attended a total of four UFC events since being elected president for a second time in November 2024. He attended UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden less than two weeks following his electoral victory. He then appeared at UFC 314 in Miami in April 2025, where he made a pro wrestling-esque entrance to Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” while enjoying a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in attendance. It was an elaborate display of propaganda from the UFC, which had mastered the spectacle of the Trump walkout.
At the time, Trump was also facing pressure and low approval ratings due after launching trade wars with several U.S. allies, including neighbouring Canada. Yet when the president was asked to gauge voter support for his controversial policies on Air Force One after the UFC show, he bragged about the “legendary” ovation he received during the fights.
“What did you think of the reaction?” he asked reporters aboard Air Force One on the way back Sunday morning. “It’s a great honor to have that kind of ovation. It says we’re doing a good job. If we weren’t doing a good job, we’d get the opposite.”
Trump followed up by attending UFC 316 in June 2025, just hours after signing a memo ordering the deployment of 2,000 national guard troops to Los Angeles county after ICE immigration raids sparked mass protests. He nevertheless enjoyed a standing ovation from the fans in attendance, and glowing endorsements from the fighters, one of whom even kneeled before Trump. UFC champion Kayla Harrison embraced him, planted a kiss on his cheek and wrapped her championship belt around his waist.
This pattern is nothing new. For years, Trump has used UFC appearances to bolster his popularity and divert attention from controversies and criminal convictions. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection—which led to his second impeachment—he began reconnecting with the UFC as a way to seek political rehabilitation. In July 2021, seven months after leaving office, Trump attended UFC 264 in Las Vegas, where he was greeted by chants of “USA” from an enthusiastic crowd. A similar moment unfolded in 2024, when—just two days after being found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush-money trial—he attended UFC 302 and received a hero’s welcome.
This relationship will reach a new, unprecedented stage in June when the UFC hosts its “Freedom250” event on the White House lawn to mark Trump’s 80th birthday. Trump called it the “hottest ticket that I’ve ever seen” with reports of lobbyists, mega donors and members of Congress clamouring to be part of the 5000 VIP seats on the south lawn of the White House. It “feels like people are willing to brawl to secure a seat!” Rob Lockwood, a former top aide to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, told Axios.
An advertisement for the White House event played in the arena during Saturday’s UFC show. “History is made by revolutionary ideas,” read the tagline at the end of the ad, which was clearly made using AI tool.
There is longstanding precedent for politicians using violent spectacles as potent symbols of their power. In ancient Rome, officials sponsored lavish games to drum up public support and advance their careers while emperors deployed them to distract, pacify and mold the masses in moments of crisis. The Roman satirist Juvenal referred to this panem et circenses—“bread and circuses”—whereby popular approval isn’t sought through good governance but by means of spectacle.
In many ways, the UFC has become Trump’s Colosseum—a spectacle of bloodsport and gratuitous violence that stands as the ultimate culmination of a partnership that was instrumental in Trump’s return to the White House. And even as Trump stands on the edge of ruin, facing a prolonged war and angry Americans at home, the UFC will always make him feel like a champion.
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Always on point, Karim
The man is a menace to the world