From Marilyn Monroe to UFC Freedom 250

UFC Freedom 250—the fight lineup planned for the White House’s South Lawn on Sunday, President Trump’s 80th birthday—is getting a lot of criticism. Sen. Adam Schiff called it “out of touch,” White House historian Edward Lengel said it “transcends the bounds of tastelessness.” Joe Rogan, a former UFC commentator, has said, “I don’t like it.”

While the superfight is a first for the White House, celebrity events have long been part of presidential birthday festivities. Perhaps the most famous was John F. Kennedy’s 1962 fundraising extravaganza for the Democratic Party at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Marilyn Monroe put on a slinky crystal-spangled dress so tight that she reportedly had to be sewed into it and sang a seductive “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” in front of 15,000 people. Among the guests were Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Benny and Harry Belafonte.

Hollywood stars entertained for Republicans as well as Democrats. In 1953, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, stars of “I Love Lucy,” performed at a White House birthday celebration for TV-loving Dwight Eisenhower. Ronald Reagan, himself a product of Hollywood, celebrated his 70th birthday in 1981, the month after his inauguration, with Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart. The celebration gained some notoriety when the Washington Post ran a picture of Reagan trying—and apparently failing—to cut in on a dance between Sinatra and Nancy Reagan.

More recently, it has been mainly Democratic presidents who have celebrated birthdays with prominent entertainers. Barack Obama brought Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder to the White House for his 50th in 2011. Bill Clinton celebrated his own 50th—and raised $10 million—with Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin and Shania Twain at Radio City Music Hall in 1996. Mr. Trump may be looking to the UFC because traditional entertainers are overwhelmingly liberal and few seem to be his fans. If he tried to have a Hollywood birthday, he’d run into the same trouble he had lining up musical entertainment for the nation’s semiquincentennial Freedom 250 event. 

Mr. Trump has long looked to other kinds of celebrities for star power. Over the years, he has befriended sports figures like Mike Tyson, Don King and Herschel Walker. During the 2024 campaign, while Kamala Harris campaigned with Cardi B, Mr. Trump enlisted the better-known nonentertainer Elon Musk to great effect at rallies. 

These developments highlight both the entertainment world’s disaggregation into narrow segments and Hollywood celebrities’ deep attachment to the Democratic Party. In response, Mr. Trump is looking away from conventional entertainment figures, who dislike him and lack the widespread appeal they once held. While the superfight is unusual and in questionable taste to many, it’s revealing about celebrity-politician pairings in 21st-century America.

Mr. Troy is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, a senior scholar at Yeshiva University’s Straus Center, and author of “What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House.”