In the days between Memorial Day—when we as a nation mourn and honor U.S. Military Personnel who died while serving in the Armed Forces—and July 4—when this year we will celebrate 250 years of our Democracy—there will fall, on June 14, a holiday known as Flag Day.
Since 1777, when the Second Continental Congress designated June 14 to commemorate the adoption of the U.S. flag, Flag Day has become a nationally celebrated holiday. But this year it has been overshadowed by a “tremendous” occasion taking place on the same day.
This June 14 is President Trump’s 80th birthday.
Could there possibly be a more fitting tribute to our gold-gilded President than a colossal live UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) on the South Lawn of the White House?
Trump’s massive new ballroom, larger than the rest of the White House complex, will unfortunately encroach a little on the South Lawn’s driveway. Thankfully, the glamorous aesthetics for the ballroom are intact, classic Roman with highly ornate gilded gold finishes. Perfect.
An iconic “claw” octagon cage is now being constructed on the South Lawn, with 5,000 seats around it. For $1.5 million, you can snag a prestigious VIP “package” for the event to avoid being amongst the 85,000 plebeians watching from giant screens at nearby Ellipse Park.
Peaking in the first century BC to the second century AD, gladiatorial games offered their sponsors extravagantly expensive and extremely effective opportunities for self-promotion. As befitting the “ruler” of any great empire, modern-day “gladiators” will “do battle” for the President’s birthday bash.
The main event for these modern gladiators will pit American Justin Gaethje against Spanish Georgian Ilia Topuria. Gladiators in the earliest Roman games were named after the Roman leaders’ enemies. Shall we then dub them “Biden” and “Obama”?
The event’s weigh-in will take place at the Lincoln Memorial. If Abraham Lincoln could “weigh in” on the spectacle, he might comment on the shredding of the Republican Party, as well as express concern about the future of the Republic itself.
In our modern age, where do we find the true warriors? No doubt they would be members of the Armed Forces, likely of the elite Navy SEAL team.
The Navy SEALs constitute less than 1% of the entire U. S. Navy. Only 20-25 percent who qualify to begin make it through the 62-week intensive training and the next 18 months of pre-deployment. There are eight active-duty teams and two reserve teams. The odd-numbered teams are stationed in Coronado, California, the even-numbered in Little Creek, Virginia.
The SEAL Ethos begins: “In times of war or uncertainty, there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer the Nation’s call … to serve the American people and protect their way of life.” The oath continues expressing a SEAL’s personal commitment: “…I do not seek recognition for my actions…but place the welfare and security of others before my own.”
So, where will these real heroes be on June 14th? They will be doing their jobs. They have already demonstrated their resolve; they are willing to join those who made the “ultimate sacrifice” for the greater good of our country.
And where will the birthday boy, also known as their Commander in Chief, be? Committed, as always, to glittering showmanship and garnering public accolades, whooping it up at his birthday bash.
Or possibly, he will be busy declaring wars or, as he calls the Iranian war, “excursions.” Or threatening whole civilizations with mass destruction and issuing wildly contradictory statements. “We won the war.” (March 3) "We must attack." (March 9) "We won the war." (March 13) "We will bomb the hell out of them.” (April 7)
President Trump did not serve in the Armed Forces when he was eligible, but received a total of five military deferments, his fifth a medical deferment for a bone spur. The podiatrist who provided the diagnosis later disclosed he did so as a favor to Trump’s father, who was the doctor’s commercial landlord. (New York Times, Dec., 2018)
Hail to the Chief.
Despite an already enormous debt, Julius Caesar, who also prided himself on his showmanship and unprecedented use of public funds, outfitted 320 pairs of gladiators with silver armor in a show of strength and scale in the closing years of the Roman Republic.
Let us not follow his example. We cannot allow these to be the closing years of our own Republic.
As the President’s birthday party also serves as the “unofficial launch” of the summer-long semiquincentennial celebrations, we have some time to reflect on our country’s upcoming birthday and the direction it will take.
So, from Coronado, California, to Little Creek, Virginia, from “Sea to Shining Sea,” let us remember the true heroes who have come before us and those who are with us now.
Let us commit to preserving “…this worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.” (Churchill)
And let us fly our American flags high and celebrate our democracy, and all it has survived, and all it will continue to.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.