Mass Casualty Plot Targeting ‘Capitalist Elites’ Was Thwarted. Why Isn’t It Bigger News?

The Washington Post’s comically vague dispatch on the thwarted terrorist plot targeting Donald Trump’s UFC event on the White House lawn on Sunday is something to behold.

The outlet’s dispatch quotes FBI Director Kash Patel revealing the arrest of “multiple individuals” who were planning a “potential threat” to the White House, but who were “stopped cold.” Readers were thus informed that the event was designed to celebrate Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and that it was overseen by the president’s “close friend,” UFC CEO Dana White. And that was it.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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The Washington Post’s comically vague dispatch on the thwarted terrorist plot targeting Donald Trump’s UFC event on the White House lawn on Sunday is something to behold.

The outlet’s dispatch quotes FBI Director Kash Patel revealing the arrest of “multiple individuals” who were planning a “potential threat” to the White House, but who were “stopped cold.” Readers were thus informed that the event was designed to celebrate Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and that it was overseen by the president’s “close friend,” UFC CEO Dana White. And that was it.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.