Donald Trump has had a lifetime fascination with professional wrestling. As most people older than ten know, professional wrestling is entertainment, not a sport. It pretends to be a sport, but it is a carefully choreographed masculine drama in which the winners and losers are predetermined. Professional wrestling seeks attention and cathartic release from macho men, not authenticity. However, strangely, Trump is perceived by his base as more authentic than most people in life because his simple persona can be reduced to the war between good and evil. There are no complex gray areas. Thus, Trump can be perceived as genuine and honest by his base because they see him wearing a white or golden robe, while he portrays his enemies as dark, sneaky, evil people.
A wrestling metaphor represents Trump’s politics and explains how and why he operates. Trump’s style of chaos is neither random nor inexplicable. He manages his businesses and the presidency like a wrestling promoter who brings in performers, gives them a script, and expects all the “wrestlers” and supplementary performers to act out their parts to achieve high ratings and make money.
What is my proof that Trump is playing a different game than everyone else? Why does he act more like Vince McMahon than Abraham Lincoln?
Plumbers and electricians attend trade schools or learn their trade through internships. Teachers graduate from college, pass a teacher preparation program, complete a student teaching internship, and meet other requirements. Soldiers are required to pass a physical and a rigorous basic training program.
In the past, all US presidents had experience as diplomats, military officers, governors, vice presidents, cabinet officials, members of Congress, or senators. The only president without any government experience is Donald J. Trump. The preceding presidents were all conditioned by their prior government experience to understand legislation, government services, the role of the judiciary, and the difference between government and non-government. Trump’s most compelling pitch to his base is his LACK of experience. His appeal goes something like this: the New York Yankees are the wealthiest baseball team, and they have been losing, so they should hire an compelling actor who played Little League baseball to manage their team. What do they have to lose? His base bought his twisted logic.
What is Trump’s actual experience? He was the spoiled youngest son of a wealthy Queens slum lord. He was a self-promoting, minor league (by New York City standards) real estate developer. Later in life, he owned three or more New Jersey casinos, which quickly fell into bankruptcy despite being subsidized by his late father, who had Alzheimer’s at the time. His father sent suitcases of laundered money to his casinos to inflate his casino “action.” He tried several times to purchase a professional football team but failed. Finally, he became a faux reality businessman on the television program The Apprentice. He had precisely zero governmental experience unless you include his bribes to greasy-fingered politicians.
One of the trademarks of professional wrestling is the display of high drama between a protagonist usually wearing white trunks and an antagonist dressed in black. The man in white is the hero, who is big and strong but has a compelling personality that draws “good” people to him. The man in black, the anti-hero, is also big and strong but has some sinister character flaw. He might be from an “evil” country like Iran, a man with mental problems, an evil schemer, an ex-con, etc. His sole purpose in life is to tarnish and ultimately tear down the protagonist.
Trump was fascinated with pro wrestling and was a massive fan of Gorgeous George, a wrestler from the 1940s to the 1960s. George Raymond Wagner (aka Gorgeous George) was the epitome of wrestling heroes. Like Trump, his was of German heritage. While George did not have bone spurs, he was small (5’ 9”) for a pro wrestler. Nevertheless, George’s career was carefully crafted to promote him as a heroic figure who was also a “glamour boy.” He queerly encouraged an exaggerated effeminate side to his personality by wearing his hair long and having over-the-top golden robes. This drew a more expansive audience clamoring to see something other than a couple of brutes bashing each other. He was able to make pro wrestling interesting again. Does this sound familiar?
Trump has appeared at many carefully staged wrestling events for decades, including one in 2025. Like his appearances in his meticulously staged television show, he acts like a savvy businessman the way Gorgeous George appeared to a big tough guy who no one could beat. I contend that The Apprentice was a fake, professional wrestling is a fake, and Trump’s presidency is a scripted fake. Trump, like a wrestling promoter, seeks the attention of macho people (there are macho women). While a master manipulator of his macho people, he is also limited because he sees the world from the eyes of a ten-year-old wrestling fan. While most world leaders are playing chess, Trump is playing checkers. Since there are many checker players in America, it is unsurprising that they prefer the simplicity of Trump’s game over the hard-to-understand games played by other leaders.
Trump and his supporters do not care about human progress. They do not care if the economy craters or if Russian hackers steal billions of dollars from US senior citizens. They do not care about the health or education of our children. Their only concern is to be entertained.
The World Wrestling Federation, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is the world’s largest professional wrestling company. It was founded in 1953 by Jess McMahon and expanded by his son and daughter-in-law, Vince and Linda McMahon. Vince was forced to retire in 2022 following an extra-marital affair and allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault. Vince and Linda officially separated in 2024. Linda Edwards McMahon is a favorite of Trump’s, as he selected her to be the administrator of the Small Business Administration in 2017 and the Secretary of Education in 2025. Of course, her tenure in Education might be limited because her apparent mandate is to eliminate the department.
A Google search of “Trump” and “wrestling” will reveal many photos and stories of Trump attending wrestling events. We might think they were a PR activity to win converts to his base, but his mode of operation is entirely consistent with wrestling’s. I think he enjoys the fake, macho wrestling atmosphere. I believe he has translated wrestling into his form of politics.
