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Trump wants to celebrate 250 years of independence with UFC fight at White House

Trump wants to celebrate 250 years of independence with UFC fight at White House

Time of India7 hours ago
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he's thinking of staging a UFC match on the White House grounds with upwards 20,000 spectators to celebrate 250 years of American independence.
"We have a lot of land there," said Trump, a UFC enthusiast who has attended several of its mixed martial arts matches in recent months and is close friends with
Dana White
, the league's president.
Trump announced his plan in Iowa during the kickoff for a year's worth of festivities to celebrate America's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.
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The Republican president also announced a culminating festival on the National Mall in Washington, and a separate athletic competition featuring high school athletes from across the country.
"So every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honour of America 250. And I even think we're going to have a UFC fight," Trump said.
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"Think of this on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there," he said, adding that it would be a "full fight" with 20,000 to 25,000 people.
A White House spokesperson said they had no details to share beyond the president's announcement.
Trump has recently enjoyed standing ovations and cage-side seats for several UFC fights, including an appearance immediately after his 2024 reelection and another just last month alongside White for two championship fights.
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  • Time of India

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Corporateness: A sense of unity and identity within the officer corps, fostered by training institutions, rituals, and a shared professional ethic. This framing set the stage for his larger argument: if the military is allowed to develop as a distinct and autonomous professional institution, it will be both apolitical and effective. 2. Objective vs. Subjective Civilian Control Perhaps the most enduring theoretical contribution of the book is Huntington's distinction between subjective and objective civilian control: Subjective Civilian Control: Civilian groups—such as political parties, ideologies, or interest factions—seek to control the military by merging it into their own structure. This includes practices like appointing military leaders based on loyalty or enforcing ideological conformity. For example, a leftist government might politicise the military to ensure it supports socialist values, while a conservative regime might rely on military backing to suppress dissent. 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Focus on order and security : Officers are trained to view the world in terms of threats, conflict, and strategy, rather than ideals or reform. Moral clarity : Military culture often encourages binary thinking—friend vs. foe, duty vs. betrayal—which can conflict with civilian complexity and compromise. Huntington does not see this conservative orientation as inherently problematic; in fact, he argues that it serves as a necessary counterbalance to the liberal values of civilian society. The danger arises, he claims, when civilians attempt to mould the military in their own ideological image. Case Studies: US, Britain, and Prussia To ground his theory, Huntington offers historical and comparative analysis of civil-military relations in three key countries: United States In the US, Huntington believed the tradition of civilian supremacy was strong but had undervalued military professionalism. American liberalism often fostered distrust of standing armies, leading to a military that was politically subordinated but also underdeveloped professionally. He called for greater respect for military autonomy in order to build a more capable defence establishment. United Kingdom Britain represented a model of subjective control, where the military was closely tied to the aristocracy and the civilian elite. Huntington viewed this as stable but less applicable to democratic societies with broader political participation. Prussia Prussia (later Germany) exemplified objective control: the military developed as a distinct, professional body with a clear mission and a strong sense of duty to the state. Huntington admired the Prussian model for its balance of autonomy and subordination, although he acknowledged its flaws—especially its later descent into nationalism and militarism during the World Wars. Huntington's View on American Civil-Military Relations Huntington's own context—the early Cold War—deeply influenced his recommendations. In the 1950s, the United States was confronting a long-term geopolitical threat from the Soviet Union. At the same time, domestic politics were turbulent, with intense partisan competition and ideological suspicion (e.g., McCarthyism ). In this environment, Huntington urged a restructuring of civil-military relations to meet the demands of a permanent national security state. His main arguments included: The US should embrace a more professionalised military that could think strategically and act globally. Civilian leaders must resist politicising the military, especially in times of national crisis. The officer corps should be educated not just in tactics but in grand strategy and policy, making it a capable partner—not a rival—of civilian leadership. 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Rigid binary thinking: The distinction between subjective and objective control may oversimplify a more complex reality where civil-military interactions are fluid and contextual. Modern scholars like Peter Feaver and Eliot Cohen have developed more nuanced models (e.g., the 'agency theory' or 'unequal dialogue' frameworks) that attempt to describe the real-world interplay between military institutions and civilian leaders. Relevance Today In an era marked by military coups, democratic backsliding, and politicisation of defence forces across many countries, Huntington's insights remain disturbingly relevant. From Turkey and Egypt to the United States and India, the debate over civilian supremacy versus military autonomy is far from settled. As democracies grapple with threats both internal and external, the challenge is to maintain strong and effective armed forces without eroding the civilian foundations of constitutional government. 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July 4: America at crossroads as it celebrates Independence Day amid Trump-induced global uncertainty

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