Suit Argues White House UFC Event Is Illegal

A planned UFC card on the White House lawn is getting hit with a legal chokehold. Two Virginia residents have sued to block the June 14 "UFC Freedom 250" event, arguing it flouts National Park Service environmental review rules and violates federal law because Congress never signed off on building its temporary fighting venue on the South Lawn—land overseen by the Park Service. Filed Saturday in federal court in Washington, the complaint says the arena structure inflicts "aesthetic injury" and a weigh-in at the Lincoln Memorial would disrupt the solemn nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, per Bloomberg Law.

The plaintiffs—an activist and a Vietnam War veteran—want a judge to bar use of both the South Lawn and the memorial. They argue that a special rule that lets the Park Service skip its usual reviews for officially run events tied to America's 250th anniversary doesn't apply because the UFC card is neither government-organized nor primarily commemorative. "This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain," a lawyer for the plaintiffs says, per the AP.

President Trump himself stands to benefit as he's invested in UFC's parent company, TKO, the filing states, per NBC News. It links the event to UFC chief Dana White's close ties to Trump and notes it coincides with the president's 80th birthday. Some 5,000 people are expected to descend on the South Lawn, while up to 85,000 others will watch from the nearby Ellipse. The White House has teased it as "the biggest fight in UFC history." It responded that the event is "no different" than others hosted on the South Lawn and that the lawsuit is "baseless and dilatory."