"That’s the plot of The Hunger Games": Perez Hilton reacts after Trump announced 'Patriot Games': Details explored 

President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new national event called the “Patriot Games” has triggered swift and pointed reactions online, with critics and commentators drawing parallels to dystopian fiction.

The proposal, unveiled as part of plans to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026, describes a multi-day athletic competition featuring high school students selected from across the country.

While the White House framed the initiative as a celebratory showcase of youth and patriotism, social media users and pop-culture commentators quickly focused on the similarities between Trump’s description and the premise of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Among those reacting was Perez Hilton, who questioned the optics and implications of the idea, bluntly likening it to the popular novel’s storyline. As Hilton put it while responding to the announcement,

“That’s the plot of The Hunger Games.”

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More on what President Trump said about the ‘Patriot Games’

According to the report The Independent on December 18, 2025, Trump introduced the “Patriot Games” during a video message outlining a slate of events planned for America’s semiquincentennial celebrations in 2026. He described the Games as “an unprecedented four-day athletic event” that would feature “the greatest high school athletes,” selecting one young man and one young woman from each state and U.S. territory.

The Patriot Games were presented as part of “the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen,” with events spread throughout the year to commemorate “250 years of American freedom.” Other initiatives announced alongside the Games included a large-scale state fair on the National Mall, a proposed triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., a National Garden of American Heroes, and a major prayer event next spring. Trump also confirmed the creation of a public-private partnership, Freedom 250, to help organize the celebrations.

The President did not provide details on how participants would be selected or how the competition would be structured, but he emphasized that the event would exclude transgender athletes, saying

"In the fall, we will host the first-ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory, but I promise there will be no men playing in women's sports. You're not going to see that. You'll see everything but that"

While the president framed the Games as a patriotic athletic showcase, the lack of specifics contributed to skepticism and fueled online speculation almost immediately after the announcement.

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Reaction to the Patriot Games announcement was swift, with comparisons to The Hunger Games dominating social media discourse. The Independent reported that users on X (formerly Twitter) questioned whether Trump was “announcing the Hunger Games,” while others joked about being “three generations away” from the dystopian future depicted in the books.

The official Democrats X (formerly Twitter) account even quoted directly from the 2012 movie adaptation.

Perez Hilton described the proposal as similar to the premise of The Hunger Games, in which one boy and one girl from each district are selected for a nationally televised competition. He noted that Trump’s description closely mirrored that fictional setup, prompting his remark that the idea sounded like the plot of the series.

Hilton also highlighted how quickly the comparison took hold online, citing comments that referenced “the reaping” and the franchise’s iconic line, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

As of now, no additional details have been released clarifying how the Games would operate, leaving public debate to focus largely on symbolism, tone, and historical context rather than logistics.

Edited by Devangee