Two residents of Virginia have initiated a legal challenge to halt President Donald Trump’s proposal to organize a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn as part of the 250th anniversary celebration of America.
The lawsuit, which was examined by Variety, targets the National Park Service and the United States Department of the Interior. It highlights several potential conflicts of interest involving the President, asserting that the “UFC Freedom 250” event would financially benefit MAGA associates, such as Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison, UFC CEO Dana White, and Trump himself. The suit further alleges that Trump purchased “up to $50,000 worth of stock in TKO, UFC’s owner” this year.
The core of the legal argument centers on the National Park Service’s standard permitting rules, which specify that “no special events of any sort, including any sporting events, may be held on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial. Nor may structures be erected on the South Lawn without express authorization from Congress and a thorough environmental review.”
While the lawsuit acknowledges a temporary exception for events organized by executive departments and agencies or the Semiquincentennial Commission for America’s 250th birthday, it contends that this UFC event is “a private, for-profit sporting event” planned by “the UFC, its broadcast partners, and its advertisers,” rather than the federal government.
The lawsuit further argues, “And it is not in any material sense a ‘celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence’—it is, instead, a celebration of the UFC’s brand and the 80th anniversary of Donald Trump’s birth.” It concludes that the UFC Freedom 250 does not meet the stringent criteria required for special semiquincentennial events to take place on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial.
