Tucker Carlson says Donald Trump may be turning 80, but he still does not like being reminded of it.
In an interview published Sunday to mark Trump’s 80th birthday, Carlson told the New York Times that Trump does not enjoy discussing his age.
“He’s really uncomfortable with it,” Carlson told the newspaper.
A former close ally of the president, Carlson and Trump fell out over the war in Iran, but Carlson has spent plenty of time in close quarters with Trump.
He said that Trump often brings up elderly people he knows who he feels are in great shape for their age.
One example Carlson gave was Gary Player, a 90-year-old retired golfer.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Despite his age anxiety, Trump is choosing to mark his 80th birthday with seven UFC fights on the White House lawn.
The event, which Bill Maher described as “the emperor holding gladiator games,” is taking place on the South Lawn of the White House.
But his birthday brawl could be in jeopardy due to severe thunderstorms forecast for Sunday evening in Washington D.C.
Millions of dollars have been spent on constructing the outdoor arena, which UFC commentator and sometime Trump ally Joe Rogan has criticized as an inappropriate venue for UFC championship fights.
“I don’t like it because I think they should be fighting indoors, always. I think world championship fights should be fought in a controlled environment,” he said on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, on Friday.
Meanwhile, the ballroom project Trump has been touting since he knocked down the East Wing last year may be the indoor venue Trump wishes he had for the fights.
The president has campaigned heavily for the massive addition, even asking Congress for $1 billion to assist with security features for the build, which would reportedly include a bunker and hospital and a drone station.
After another assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, Trump argued the ballroom, which he also claims will not cost taxpayers any money, was a necessity.
But Carlson said he believes his fixation is more about his mortality, describing it as “an older man building a monument to himself.”
