Judge seeks answers on Trump's birthday UFC fight at White House

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jun 8, 2026

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A Washington, D.C., federal judge Monday moved quickly to order arguments in a new federal lawsuit that seeks to block President Donald Trump’s planned Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the grounds of the White House, which critics say will only benefit Trump and the organizers of the mixed martial arts spectacular.

District Court Judge Amit Mehta ordered the Interior Department to immediately propose a schedule for briefings and a potential hearing in the case, which claims the event, timed for Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday, amounts to a “corrupt” misuse of the White House grounds.

“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”

The lawsuit says Trump violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands by approving the event. It claims Congress should have been asked to approve erection of the towering arch on the south lawn and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.

The White House countered by deriding the suit as “obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory.” It portrays the UFC event as an ordinary presidential event and a part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4.

Mehta has previously ruled against Trump and some of his allies in other high profile cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The Obama appointee ruled that Trump did not hold blanket presidential immunity from civil claims over his involvement in the attack.

Mehta presided over the trial of white nationalist leader Stewart Rhodes and sentenced him to 18 years after a jury convicted him of plotting the violent Jan. 6 attack. Trump later pardoned Rhodes and all other convicted Jan. 6 attackers.

Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn. Trump has said the finished UFC project will feature a temporary 5,000-seat arena, which will be by paid admission.

Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets.

Trump is a friend of UFC boss Dana White and an investor in UFC stock, raising the specter of a conflict of interest.

The UFC octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.

The White House is proceeding with construction of a new ballroom while a panel of judges considers a suit aimed at blocking the project. Congress balked at providing $1 billion in security funding for the project, which Trump had repeatedly insisted wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime.

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