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Congressional baseball game offers longstanding traditions, and plenty of confusion

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There were two 1s. Three 3s. Three 4s. One 04. Three 6s. Two 06s. Two 7s. Two 07s. 2 9s. And three 12s. 

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No. I wasn’t trying to decipher computer programming code. 

This wasn’t a routing number for a checking account.

Nor was I communicating in hexadecimals.

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I was staring at these numbers to unravel the GOP’s uniform numbers for the annual Congressional baseball game at Nats Park.

REPUBLICANS DESTROY DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME AGAIN, WINNING FOR 5TH STRAIGHT YEAR

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram details the annual challenge of calling the Congressional Baseball Game, where duplicate uniform numbers complicate live broadcasts. (Fox News)

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Congressional Republicans and Democrats play each other in the event. It’s a custom dating back to 1909. No other athletic team in any sport on the planet allows players on the same team to wear the same numbers. But since this is Congress, lawmakers get to choose whatever uniform number they want. 

On the Republican team, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rep. Brad Finstad (R-MN) both wear number one. Reps. Chuck Flesichmann (R-TN), Greg Murphy (R-NC) and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) don number three.

You get the idea. 

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Old-time ballpark vendors used to hawk their wares by shouting, «You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.» 

With all of these numbers, a scorecard won’t do. You need an abacus.

The Democrats aren’t much better with their uniform algebra. Four Democrats utilized the same uniform digits. There were two 3s. Two 11s. Two 15s. And two 25s. For instance, Reps. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., sported number three. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., requested number 11. 

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The game is a charity event, raising more than $3.2 million and coaxing 32,000 fans to the ballpark. So who wears what number really shouldn’t matter much.

SCHMITT GOES IN-DEPTH ON DIVING CATCH & CHANGES TO COLLEGE ATHLETICS ON ‘RUTHLESS’

Chad Pergram speaking in front of a camera.

Republicans and Democrats packed Nationals Park for the Congressional Baseball Game, a charity tradition that raised more than $3.2 million this year. (Fox News)

Unless you’re broadcasting the game on national television.

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That’s where I come in. 

I’ve had the privilege of announcing the game for Fox Sports for five years now, live on FS1. I handle the color commentary. My Fox News colleague and former ESPN hand Kevin Corke does play-by-play. Fox Sports sends the same production crew which handles playoff games and the World Series to cover this. Led by Fox producer extraordinaire Aaron Stojkov, the same group of folks just worked Fox’s national broadcast of the Cardinals/Cubs game a few weeks ago in St. Louis. They handled the Phillies/Brewers game in Milwaukee Saturday night.

Congress is my thing. But baseball even more so. 

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I was at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati in 1985 the night Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record. I know that Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom House caught Hank Aaron’s 715th career home run in the bullpen, breaking Babe Ruth’s mark. I can talk about Ralph Branca on the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branca yielded «The Shot Heard ‘Round the World» to Bobby Thomson, propelling the New York Giants into the 1951 World Series. I’ll then regale you with the little known fact that Thomson is from Glasgow, Scotland. Not Staten Island. I can even give you a dissertation explaining the infield fly rule. 

But the annual ritual of decrypting the Congressional baseball game is the most challenging thing I do professionally each year. The exercise involving the national pastime is a fabulous yet tough assignment. 

I’ve often wondered if calling an actual Major League game would be easier than announcing the tilt between the Democrats and Republicans. For MLB, I follow the teams. I study box scores. I can tell who is on a winning streak. Who can’t hit a slider. 

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PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR: HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ SMALL MAJORITY COULD MAKE ATTENDANCE A PRIORITY

Chad Pergram posing for a photo at a baseball stadium.

Duplicate jersey numbers left broadcasters sorting through lawmakers on the field during the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Washington. (Fox News)

This is not to say that announcing a Big League game is easy. But there’s more information. It’s baseball as I know it. 

Pete Rose said that the easiest place to hit was the Big Leagues. The pitching was better. The umpiring was better. The lighting was better.

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Rose’s point is that most MLB hurlers have command. But down in the minors, some of the pitchers make Ricky «Wild Thing» Vaughn from the movie Major League look like Greg Maddux. Umpires in The Show work a consistent strike zone. But in the Pioneer League, an actual pioneer may have a better concept of what’s a ball or strike. Down in the South Atlantic League, you might struggle to even see the ball because the stadium is practically illuminated by foot candles. But the lighting at Major League Stadiums is better than a Taylor Swift concert. 

So that’s the challenge. There’s a chasm between MLB and the Congressional baseball game. You have to figure out what to say about each player – who have limited stat lines. I know more about their voting records than batting averages. So, like any reporter, I dig around to prepare what to say during the game. 

It was just before 7a.m. ET a few weeks ago. My phone buzzed with a text from Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt. He was at the pre-dawn practice. Schmitt has the highest OPS (on base percentage, plus slugging percentage) in Congressional baseball history. He’s a mega St. Louis Cardinals fan. But despite his prowess at the plate, Schmitt made one of the most stellar plays in Congressional baseball history in the game Wednesday night.

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LEARNING CURVE: THE NEW PLAYERS IN CONGRESS

Chad Pergram sitting at his desk at Fox Sports.

Spectacular defensive plays, bipartisan competition and baseball history highlighted this year’s Congressional Baseball Game. (Fox News)

Rep. Johnny Oleszewski, D-Md., looped a long flyball down the left field line. Approaching foul ground and the warning track, Schmitt laid himself out, with a diving, circus catch in the heel of his glove. Schmitt popped back up, blood streaming from his face after crashing into the warning track.

«I’m not as sore as I thought I would be,» said Schmitt the next day, noting he scraped up his forearms. 

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That play goes into the baseball lore for next year’s broadcast. 

Schmitt wasn’t the only Gold Glover this year. 

Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., also made spectacular catches in short left field.

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Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, is the GOP manager. But he toiled as an Atlanta Braves farmhand for three seasons. Williams hit an impressive .318 for Wytheville, VA in the Appalachian League in 1971. An injury curbed Williams to batting just .135 and .203 the next two seasons. The Braves released him and Wiliams became a scout. 

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., manages the Democratic squad. She used to be one of a handful of women who played. After five seasons, Sanchez is still looking for her first win as the Democratic skipper. 

«We don’t get our hits together then and strand people on the bases,» said Sanchez. 

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As a kid, Sanchez pulled for the now Los Angeles Angels. She was a big Nolan Ryan fan. But Sanchez dropped her allegiance to the Angels after Ryan signed with the Houston Astros. That was just as «Fernando-mania» seized the baseball world as phenom Fernando Valenzuela won the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honor in 1981. Sanchez has been a Los Angeles Dodgers fan ever since. 

I have two favorite tales about lawmakers and their connections to Major League Baseball.  

Rep. Ray Cannon, D-Wis., served in Congress in the 1930s. But before that, Cannon represented Shoeless Joe Jackson and other members of the Chicago White Sox, banished from baseball during the Black Sox scandal. Eight players are accused of trying to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. 

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Then there was Rep. Jacob Ruppert, D-N.Y., who represented part of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Ruppert wanted to acquire a baseball club. But a deal to purchase the New York Giants fell through. He opted to buy the New York Yankees – who were consistently a second division team in those days. Ruppert then acquired Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees became one of the most-storied franchises in the history of sports. And Ruth became the first American superstar. 

Few in Congress know who Ruppert was in Congress. But when it comes to baseball, Ruppert is now enshrined in Cooperstown. 

In order to get everyone to the ballpark on time for the game, Steve Scalise scheduled final votes for the day around 4:30 pm et last Wednesday. He also told committees to suspend votes until after the ballgame. 

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The House Appropriations Committee was prepping the annual Homeland Security bill that night. But Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Members he wanted everyone back to vote 30 minutes after the game. Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., had an amendment ready on collective bargaining for the TSA. Levin wondered if he’d return for the committee votes in his baseball uniform.

Chad Pergram speaking at the press box.

Calling the Congressional Baseball Game requires equal parts baseball knowledge and Capitol Hill expertise, according to longtime broadcaster Chad Pergram. (Fox News)

But no level of preparation fully arms you to call the game from the booth. I looked up at one point and found freshman Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, pinch running at first base. But Menefee never appeared on any roster I was presented. I had no information on him. 

Menefee beat Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, in a primary for next year recently. He’s only been in Congress a few months after winning a special election. 

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At first I couldn’t figure out who was out on the base paths. I scoured each each number on my roster. 

Nothing.

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A multitude of numbers. But none for Menefee.

Prep all you want to announce the Congressional baseball game. But you’d still be outnumbered.

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INTERNACIONAL

EN VIVO | El acuerdo de paz entre EEUU e Irán será firmado el próximo viernes 19 de junio en Ginebra

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Pakistán ofició como mediador clave entre Estados Unidos e Irán

Después de mucha expecativa, el primer ministro de Pakistán, Shehbaz Sharif, anunció este domingo que Estados Unidos e Irán llegaron a un “acuerdo de paz” que detiene de inmediato todas las operaciones militares en Medio Oriente, incluído el Líbano.

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De acuerdo a lo detallado por Sharif, la firma del pacto tendrá lugar en Ginebra el próximo 19 de junio.

“Con el acuerdo ya en vigor, los mediadores facilitarán una serie de reuniones esta semana. Estos debates previos a la implementación sentarán las bases para las conversaciones técnicas y la ceremonia oficial de firma”, escribió en X el mandatario paquistaní, mediador clave entre Washington y Teherán.

Apenas minutos después, el presidente Donald Trump anunció que el acuerdo negociado con Irán “ya está completo” y ordenó la reapertura inmediata del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval estadounidense que permanecía vigente en la región.

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En las próximas horas el presidente norteamericano viajará a Francia para participar del G7, en Evián, por lo que hay expectativa por su posible presencia el viernes en Suiza para ser él quien firme acuerdo.

A continuación, la cobertura minuto a minuto de la nueva coyuntura en Medio Oriente:

Nuevo mensaje de Trump

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Momentos después del anuncio del acuerdo con Irán, el presidente Trump volvió a usar sus redes sociales para destacar la gestión de su administración, y afirmó que este pacto traerá “paz” a Medio Oriente.

“Este gran acuerdo traerá paz y seguridad a toda la región”, sostuvo en su mensaje publicado en Truth Social.

“Muchos presidentes han intentado alcanzar la paz con Irán, y todos han fracasado antes que yo. Los líderes de la región han encontrado, por primera vez, a un presidente que puede ayudarles a lograr una paz verdadera. Con la apertura del estrecho tras la firma del acuerdo el viernes, con el fin de retirar las minas, ¡el petróleo volverá a fluir por ambos extremos para la región y para el mundo!“.

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Irán dice que el acuerdo pone fin a la guerra

El viceministro de asuntos exteriores del régimen iraní, Kazem Gharibabadi, declaró en la noche del domingo que el acuerdo con Estados Unidos pone “fin inmediatamente a la guerra”.

“En primer lugar, el fin inmediato y definitivo de la guerra y de las operaciones militares en los diferentes frentes, incluido el Líbano”, señaló el diplomático, especialista en cuestiones jurídicas, en la televisión estatal.

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Asimismo, afirmó que Teherán salió vencedor de la guerra con Israel y Estados Unidos: “El enemigo, que atacó para llevar a cabo sus designios malintencionados, ha visto todos sus objetivos reducidos a la nada, y la República Islámica de Irán ha logrado grandes victorias en esta guerra”.

Macron dijo que el acuerdo será tratado en el G7

Macron y Trump se verán esta semana en Francia, en el marco de la cumbre del G7 (REUTERS/Al Drago)
Macron y Trump se verán esta semana en Francia, en el marco de la cumbre del G7 (REUTERS/Al Drago)

Las grandes potencias del G7 discutirán a partir del lunes en Evian, Francia, las “consecuencias” del acuerdo entre Estados Unidos e Irán y la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz, dijo el domingo el presidente Emmanuel Macron.

“El objetivo será ver las consecuencias de este acuerdo, el apoyo al Líbano, la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz a largo plazo y, obviamente, la conclusión de un acuerdo sobre el programa nuclear y balístico en Irán”, dijo el mandatario francés en un video publicado en su Instagram.

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Macron recibirá el lunes en la ciudad a orillas del lago Lemán a Donald Trump y a los líderes de Alemania, Canadá, Italia, Japón y Reino Unido.

JD Vance asistirá a la firma del acuerdo en Suiza

En abril JD Vance encabezó la delegación norteamericana para negociar con Irán en Pakistán (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS)
En abril JD Vance encabezó la delegación norteamericana para negociar con Irán en Pakistán (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS)

El vicepresidente norteamericano declaró este domingo que tenía previsto asistir a la firma del acuerdo de paz con Irán en Suiza dentro de unos días, pero que el presidente Donald Trump podría acudir.

“Sin duda tengo previsto estar allí, pero es posible que el propio presidente también acuda”, declaró a Fox News cuando se le preguntó si estaría presente en la ceremonia, que, según el mediador Pakistán, tendrá lugar en Ginebra el 19 de junio.

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Trump ordenó la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval tras el acuerdo con Irán
Trump ordenó la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval tras el acuerdo con Irán

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, anunció este domingo que el acuerdo negociado con Irán “ya está completo” y ordenó reapertura inmediata del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval estadounidense que permanecía vigente en la región.

Pakistán confirmó que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaron un acuerdo para poner fin a la guerra en Medio Oriente

El primer ministro pakistaní, Shehbaz Sharif, indicó que la ceremonia oficial de firma se celebrará el viernes 19 de junio en Suiza

Pakistán confirmó que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaron un acuerdo para poner fin a la guerra en Medio Oriente (REUTERS/Archivo)
Pakistán confirmó que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaron un acuerdo para poner fin a la guerra en Medio Oriente (REUTERS/Archivo)

El primer ministro de Pakistán, Shehbaz Sharif, anunció este domingo que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaron un acuerdo de paz para poner fin al conflicto que enfrentó a ambos países durante los últimos meses y que la firma oficial del documento está prevista para el próximo 19 de junio en Suiza.



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Khamenei’s ‘target-rich’ funeral is Iran’s biggest security gamble, sends message to US: expert

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Iran’s decision to hold a July funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a high-stakes bet that any emerging peace deal with the United States will hold, potentially creating a «target-rich» gathering of Tehran’s most isolated leaders, a counterterrorism expert warned Sunday.

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The multi-day state funeral, announced by Iranian state media on June 13, is scheduled to begin in Tehran on July 4 and end with Khamenei’s burial in the holy city of Mashhad on July 9, Reuters reported.

According to Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, the timing serves as a deliberate message to America.

«A mass funeral is the most target-rich event this regime could stage, and now they would not risk one until they are confident it wouldn’t be hit,» Mohammed told Fox News Digital.

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IRAN HOLDS FUNERAL FOR TOP COMMANDERS, NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS KILLED IN ISRAELI OPERATION

A motorist rides past a banner featuring images of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei along a street in Tehran on April 15, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)

«But it is the staging of this funeral that is the message, and the message is aimed at America as much as at Iranians.»

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The announcement also coincided with a major diplomatic breakthrough, coming as President Donald Trump announced that a peace deal with Tehran is expected to be signed Sunday.

«The regime could sign a deal that lets it keep its leverage, then bury its leader as the victor who won it,» Mohammed said.

«Announcing the funeral Saturday as Pakistan said the final text of a deal was reached and signing is close, is their bet that the ceasefire holds into July.»

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Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28 during the opening salvo of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran, ending a 36-year tenure leading the Islamic Republic. He was 86.

Experts say the regime is using the four-month delay since the February strikes to completely reframe the narrative of the conflict.

«Khamenei goes into the ground as a man America murdered, so the deal becomes a tactical pause — revenge deferred, not abandoned,» Mohammed observed. «The deeper logic is that you bury the leader as a victor, not a victim.»

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«They can now stage the funeral as the war’s victory monument: the martyred Imam laid to rest as the man whose resistance forced America to terms,» Mohammed added.

«The four-month delay was not only security. It was waiting for a win to bury him.»

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN

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Supporters holding Iranian flags and portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Baghdad's Sadr district

Supporters gather in Baghdad’s Sadr district holding Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the announcement that he was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks on March 1, 2026. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu)

Following three days of public ceremonies in Tehran, the procession will move to the clerical heartland of Qom on July 7 before concluding in Mashhad on July 9.

Analysts note the dates heavily leverage deep Shia religious iconography, falling directly within the holy mourning month of Muharram.

«This is also a staged passion play, not a schedule because the dates fall within Muharram, the Shia mourning month centered on Imam Hussein’s martyrdom at Karbala, and the burial on July 9 is timed to the eve of another Imam’s martyrdom,» Mohammed said.

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«The body goes into the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad — the only one of the 12 Imams buried in Iran, and the holiest site in Iranian Shiism — giving the regime a permanent martyr’s shrine and mobilization site for years.»

Mohammed noted that scheduling the opening ceremonies on the 250th anniversary of America’s Independence Day carries deliberate geopolitical signaling.

«The regime had room to choose which Muharram days and, at a minimum, it’s a message they are happy to broadcast; very possibly it’s the point — while America marks 250 years, Iran opens the funeral of the leader America killed and calls it the beginning of its victory.»

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LETHAL ELITE ‘BLACK-CLAD’ KILL SQUAD GUARDS IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei looking forward

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is shown in a portrait image. (Fox News)

The highly public, multi-city route presents a massive security vulnerability for Iran’s new leadership.

Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained entirely in hiding due to targeted security threats and reported injury since the war began.

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«By every tradition, the son leads the prayers and stands at the grave; it is the act that consecrates the succession,» Mohammed noted.

«But Mojtaba has not appeared in public since the war began, runs the country by courier, and is a designated target — and a funeral is a pre-announced time and place. For a man whose every confirmed sighting is a coordinate, July 9 in Mashhad is the most dangerous appointment of his rule.»

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«The regime is boxed: It needs the son at the father’s grave to crown the dynasty, but putting him there exposes him as never before,» Mohammed concluded.

«If he appears, it’s his first sighting and a gamble; if he doesn’t, the dynasty is consecrated by an absence.»

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Trump marks 80th birthday, now second octogenarian sitting president: ‘Seemed to utterly defy age’

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President Donald Trump turned 80 on Sunday, becoming only the second sitting U.S. president to reach octogenarian status in the Oval Office, leaving even his onetime political opponents marveling at his defying the effects of Father Time – even if his critics continue to share concerns they never had with the older former President Joe Biden, now 83.

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«You don’t have to wish me a happy birthday, because I’m not happy about that birthday that I’m having,» Trump joked with Dr. Mehmet Oz, 66, in an Oval Office video shared Thursday on Instagram. «It’s a number I haven’t thought too much about.

«It’s not a number I like, but I’m here nevertheless.»

Trump’s White House is celebrating his keeping up the fight with an Ultimate Fighting Championship on the South Lawn.

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TRUMP LOOKING FORWARD TO ATTENDING UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT FEATURING ‘ALL TOP’ FIGHTERS

President Donald Trump has long hailed his cognitive abilities and is resurfacing the scoring on tests as he approaches his 80th birthday June 14. (Aaron Schwartz/Sipa/Bloomberg)

«At least to date, he has seemed to utterly defy age,» said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. The 55-year-old Cruz was a target of Trump’s political fire a decade ago on the opposite side of the Republican presidential primary race.

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«I don’t know where he gets the energy that he displays, but he is up early in the morning and late at night,» Cruz added.

Trump, born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, crossed the threshold previously reached by Biden, who turned 80 in 2022 while serving in the White House. Trump was already the oldest president ever sworn into office when he began his second term in January 2025 at age 78.

RFK JR: DR OZ SAYS TRUMP HAS ‘HIGHEST TESTOSTERONE LEVEL’ HE’S SEEN IN A MAN OLDER THAN 70

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Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower are the four oldest presidents in history

Former President Joe Biden remains the oldest to serve as commander in chief, but President Donald Trump will surpass him by the end of his term in January 2028. Both have surpassed former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower as the oldest siting presidents. ((Getty Images))

«He has gained in stamina as he has gotten older,» former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 82, said recently.

Unlike Biden, whose age and mental acuity became a central political liability before he left office, Trump and his allies have repeatedly pointed to the president’s busy public schedule, frequent media appearances and hands-on governing style as evidence that he remains active and engaged.

Trump hailed his latest physical by White House Dr. Sean Barbabella declaring him to be in «exceptional» health and his cardiac age being «approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.»

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TRUMP DECLARED ‘FULLY FIT’ FOR ALL PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES AFTER ANNUAL PHYSICAL SHOWS ‘EXCELLENT HEALTH’

«They said I’m very healthy,» Trump told «Pod Force One with Miranda Devine» earlier this month, saying he has «an obligation» to give periodic cognitive reports on his mental acuity after Biden’s administration.

«I took a test and cognitive test and I got 100% on it. I got as the expression goes: I aced it. And the doctors told me it’s very, very few people can ace. That’s actually a tough test.»

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Trump noted Biden was able to skirt potential prosecution for retention of classified documents because special counsel Robert Hur declared Biden to be a «sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.»

TRUMP PITCHES COGNITIVE TESTS FOR LEADERS, TAKES AIM AT HARRIS, WALZ, NEWSOM

«I have a great memory,» Trump told Devine. «Look, so far so good. I hope I’m going to keep it that way.

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«If I don’t, you’ll be the first to know. You’ll say [after] this interview: ‘This isn’t the same Trump; I think he’s lost it.’»

The White House has also sought to bolster that message with medical updates. Trump’s physician said the president remains in «excellent health» and «fully fit» to carry out the duties of commander-in-chief.

«Unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence,’» the post began.

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«Are the Dumocrats really surprised?»

WHITE HOUSE PROVIDES TRUMP HEALTH UPDATE AFTER MRI SCAN CONCERNS SWIRLED

Trump has long cast his stamina as a political asset, regularly contrasting his pace and public visibility with Biden’s more limited appearances during his presidency. Supporters say the difference is clear: Trump remains outspoken, combative and highly visible as he enters his ninth decade.

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Some Democrats have seized on images of Trump’s bruising of his hand and with his eyes closed during meetings and lengthy Cabinet news conferences, which Trump has noted provide unprecedented transparency and access to the administration lasting up to three hours of live back-and-forth.

«That’s false: I’ve never seen him fall asleep,» Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 25 years Trump’s junior and another one-time target of Trump’s political opposition, told a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing this month.

WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS WENT FROM COVERING AN ‘INVISIBLE PRESIDENT’ BIDEN TO ‘OMNIPRESENT’ TRUMP: POLITICO

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«On the contrary, the guy doesn’t sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at 2 in the morning. He calls me at 5 in the morning. And, you know, I like to sleep a little bit, maybe not 12 hours, but at least six. So he works. The other day he was at the Oval Office until 12:30 a.m.

«I don’t know what you’re talking about.»

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., 74, rejected age getting in Trump’s way like it did for Biden, saying that «just because you’re 80 doesn’t mean you’re falling apart.»

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Trump’s birthday also arrives during a historically unusual stretch for America’s aging political class. Three baby boomer presidents — Trump, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — all turn 80 in 2026. The latter two are long removed from active public service.

Trump is not looking to just rest after the UFC fight on the South Lawn on Sunday night. He plans to then travel early Monday to France for the annual G7 summit.

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