A federal judge has refused to block the White House from hosting a UFC mixed martial arts event this weekend on the South Lawn, where an elaborate arena has already been constructed to celebrate Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary.
US district judge Amit Mehta ruled on Friday that organisers could proceed with Sunday’s “UFC Freedom 250” event, despite a lawsuit from the non-profit Public Integrity Project. The suit, filed on behalf of an activist and a Vietnam war veteran, sought to stop the event and the construction of a 92ft-tall, 600-ton steel structure called The Claw on White House grounds.
The White House dismissed the lawsuit as baseless, arguing the event is no different from many others routinely held at public forums in Washington. However, plaintiffs’ attorneys contended that Trump’s administration cannot lawfully issue permits for sporting events on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial, where UFC fighters planned a press conference. They described the event as a privately organised, for-profit venture with VIP packages costing millions of dollars.
“The President’s administration is granting the UFC an extraordinary business opportunity it may not lawfully grant, and in exchange the UFC is throwing an event at which its leadership, fighters, advertisers, and various celebrities will all pay tribute to the President on his birthday,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote.
The National Park Service and the interior department are named as defendants. Trump, a Republican, has long been associated with UFC and its president Dana White, having attended a UFC show in 2019 as the first sitting president to do so.
