On June 14, in the midst of Pride Month and on his 80th birthday, Donald Trump plans to turn the White House into the venue for UFC Freedom 250. The senior editor of the publication The Advocate John Casey, who has been covering Trump's activities for many years, Approves: Behind the official pretext—the celebration of America's 250th anniversary—lies "The most meticulously crafted homoerotic spectacle in the history of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue".
Donald Trump, despite his public statements that he isn’t interested in men, has built an aesthetic around himself that Casey calls “an obsession with handsome men.” The upcoming UFC tournament on the South Lawn will be the culmination of this style: half-naked fighters, muscular military personnel, and a star-studded guest list reminiscent of “a casting call for gay porn.”
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"Only the Handsome Ones in Uniform": A Rigorous Selection Process for Military Personnel
Casey's article focuses in particular on how the Pentagon, under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegset, selects attendees for the event:
1,200 military personnel have been invited to the tournament, but specific requirements have been set for them.
According to Pentagon memoranda, the waist-to-height ratio for recruits must be less than 0.55. Commanders were explicitly instructed to select those who would "look good on camera".
As the author ironically notes, Trump and Hegset effectively implemented a “no fat guys” policy, keeping only “fit and handsome” men in full dress uniform in the frame.
The Star-Studded Cast and the President's "Aesthetic Preferences"
The list of invited celebrities also raises questions for the editor The Advocate. Among the expected guests are — Tom Brady, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jared Leto, and Jason Statham. Casey points out that Trump has publicly praised men’s physiques on more than one occasion. For example, after the UFC 327 fight, he told Brazilian fighter Paulo Costa:
"You're handsome. You could be a model… You're too good-looking to be a fighter."
The author emphasizes that the president’s own lifestyle—with its abundance of self-tanning, styled hair, and use of concealer in quantities that “any drag queen would envy”— — stands in stark contrast to the policies of his party, which has declared war on “drag queen story hours.”
Irony and Politics
John Casey points out a profound contradiction: while the Trump administration is working to “erase” LGBTQ+ people from military service and removes references to transgender issues from federal websites, the president himself surrounds himself with a deliberately masculine, athletic, and, in essence, homoerotic spectacle.
He also cites the example of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, when a dating app Grindr It literally "crashed" due to the influx of users, many of whom hid their faces in their profiles.
Who is John Casey?
John Casey — an experienced journalist and senior editor The Advocate. Over the course of his 30-year career, he has worked as a public relations specialist on Capitol Hill and in Hollywood, and has also collaborated with the United Nations and major American retailers. In his columns, he analyzes political and social issues through the lens of LGBTQ+ rights, conducting interviews with leading U.S. politicians and public figures.
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