Trump cares about UFC fight and his ballroom. Not about you. | Opinion
While Trump's narcissism has never been hidden, it has become more glaring in this second term, and it's easier than ever to see that the man about to turn 80 doesn't care about anyone but himself.
Rex HuppkeAmericans are angry. They are stressed about food and fuel prices. They are, in astounding numbers, saying President Donald Trump is the source of their anger and stress.
Well, I can assure my fellow Americans the MAGA king ain’t listening. He doesn’t care, and he has said as much.
While Trump’s narcissism has never been hidden, it has become more glaring in this second term, and it’s easier than ever to see that the man about to turn 80 doesn’t care about any American but himself.
He cares deeply about hosting a raucous UFC fight on the White House lawn on his upcoming birthday. He cares deeply, in vivid dreams of gold and chandeliers, about one day having the grandest ballroom in the land. He cares about making America’s 250th anniversary celebration in the nation’s capital a big, gaudy to-do, at a time when most American families can’t afford the gas it would cost to get to Washington, DC.
Trump casually says, 'I don't care about the midterms'
During a May 27 Cabinet meeting, Trump dismissed concerns about the Iran war that is costing taxpayers dearly, dismissing the fact that it's hurting people and putting his fellow Republicans in political peril: “I don’t care about the midterms.”
Asked earlier in May about the war’s economic toll on Americans, he said bluntly: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.”
Standing by the rubble that was once the White House East Wing on May 19, bragging about his wildly unpopular ballroom project, Trump downplayed the economic pain Americans are feeling from the Iran war, saying, “This is peanuts.”
Trump won't shut up about his ballroom while Americans struggle
Reuters reported that the president has publicly mentioned the ballroom “either via speeches, social media posts, or in comments to reporters” at least 40 times this year. The Washington Post also reviewed the frequency of Trump’s ballroom ramblings and found he has brought it up about a third of the days this year, “on about as many days as he has mentioned health insurance and ‘affordability.’ ”
Hear me when I say this: He. Doesn’t. Care. About. You. And he never has.
Republicans know this. They also don't care.
Want proof? Trump is ballroom-babbling in the face of polling that shows more and more Americans blame him for their cost of living woes. Any time you bring prices up to a Republican, their Pavlovian response is that it’s all former President Joe Biden’s fault. The data shows nobody’s buying that nonsense.
Nobody's blaming Biden for the economy now. It's all Trump's.
A Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll released May 27 found “41% of Americans say President Trump and his administration are most responsible for the cost-of-living problems people face today,” which is “more than two-and-a-half times the share who blame Joe Biden and the previous administration (16%).”
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll put the president’s approval rating at a miserable 35% and found a shocking 46% of Republicans think he's doing a bad job on the cost of living.
A recent New York Times/Siena poll showed nearly 70% of independent voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing. Among all voters, 44% said President Ballroom’s policies had hurt them personally.
Why is the president spending millions on gold leaf while we suffer?
A leader who cares about those he’s leading would respond to numbers like that, and to the economic issues behind those numbers, with concern. Trump is responding by covering everything in Washington, DC, that doesn’t keep moving in expensive gold leaf.
We learned May 28 that the administration is shelling out $5 million in taxpayer money to cover four bronze statues in the capital in 23.75-karat gold leaf.
The White House presently looks like someone is installing a roller coaster on the lawn, as a towering structure that will hold lights and large screens for the upcoming UFC fight has risen up higher than the People’s House itself.
Per The Associated Press, the fighting cage and stage “will themselves be surrounded by thousands of temporary seats, including ringside space for a full marching band that can set the entire scene to blaring music.”
Trump will host a birthday UFC fight, and not care a bit about you
The event is set for June 14, which happens to be Trump’s 80th birthday. What a great day for him. He can wallow in the gold and glitter and glamour. He can boast about his ballroom. He can tell Americans how badly we need a 250-foot-tall, $100 million triumphal arch in Washington.
And he can turn to the cameras and tell us all what he really thinks about how average Americans are doing. I imagine it will go something like this: “I don’t care.”
Not that he even needs to say the words. His actions tell us all we need to know.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.