You can't accuse President Donald Trump of not having his finger on the pulse of pop culture, as following the release of Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping and the 2026 movie of the same name, the Commander-in-Chief is seemingly launching his own real-life Hunger Games.
When Donald Trump confirmed he'd be making a major announcement on December 18, many thought it might have something to do with the MIA Epstein files. You couldn't have been more wrong, but who'd have guessed he'd be revealing his own Hunger Games-inspired tournament?
While this thankfully isn't a fight to the death like in Collins' books and Lionsgate's popular film franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence, you can't help but notice a few similarities.
Remembering that the United States of America is celebrating 250 years in 2026, you always knew the man who plans to release his own gold-covered phone and has ripped down part of the White House to build a ballroom in his honor was going to try to pull out all the stops.
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Speaking about the "most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen,” Trump announced a year of celebrations that included lighting the Washington Monument, building ceremonial arches, and the aforementioned Patriot Games.
In a video message explaining a little more about what we can expect, the POTUS cheered for this "unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes: one young man and one young woman from each state and territory."
The crux of The Hunger Games follows District 12's Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence in the movies) and Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson) as they take on the villainous President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the dystopian realm of Panem.
In this story, does that make Trump his very own President Snow?
There was plenty of chatter about the 'dystopian' timeline we now find ourselves in, with one person writing: "We’re closer to a dystopian Hunger Games future than a utopian Star Trek one."
Another joked: "I knew we were in late-stage capitalism, but i didn’t realize we were in **HUNGER GAMES** late-stage capitalism."
A third said: "If not dystopian, why dystopian shaped?"
It was also the perfect opportunity for infamous Trump rival Gavin Newsom to twist the knife as he shared a video of Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket from the movies.
There's no love lost between Trump and Newsom, with the POTUS previously calling the Governor of California, 'Newscum'.
Elsewhere, political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen quipped: “We asked for affordable health care and Republicans are giving us the Hunger Games."
Finally, the official X account of the Democrats chuckled by sharing a quote from Gary Ross' first movie: "'And so it was decreed that, each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up, in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice.' (The Hunger Games, 2012)."
When not preparing for the Patriot Games, the current administration also has the "great American state fair" to deal with, set to include pavilions from all 50 states, displayed on the National Mall from June 25 to July 10.
If all that wasn't enough, his long-gestating National Garden of American Heroes is finally coming to fruition. Where else will you be able to see statues of Edgar Allen Poe standing next to Whitney Houston?
As for the Patriot Games, may the odds forever be in the favor of its contestants.