Politics
A Federal Lawsuit Is Trying to Stop the UFC Fight on the White House Lawn Before Saturday
By Mike Harper · June 8, 2026
There is a steel arch on the South Lawn of the White House. It is taller than the White House itself. Nobody asked Congress whether it could be built there.
That structure — which UFC and the White House are calling “The Claw” — is the centerpiece of a federal lawsuit filed Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents seeking an emergency injunction to stop UFC Freedom 250 from taking place on June 14.
The fight card, which features Ilia Topuria defending his lightweight championship against Justin Gaethje as the main event, is scheduled for Flag Day — which also happens to be President Trump’s 80th birthday. A 5,000-seat temporary arena has been under construction on the South Lawn for months. Weigh-ins are planned at the Lincoln Memorial. A two-day Fan Fest at the Ellipse, featuring a Zac Brown Band concert, surrounds the main event. UFC says it will distribute as many as 85,000 free tickets for the Ellipse viewing area.
The lawsuit is not trying to argue that a UFC fight is inherently beneath the dignity of the South Lawn. Its argument is more specific and more legally interesting than that.
The plaintiffs contend that National Park Service regulations explicitly prohibit commercial sporting events on federal parklands without going through a formal authorization process — a process the Trump administration skipped. They argue that The Claw was constructed without the congressional authorization that federal law requires for permanent or semi-permanent structures on National Mall grounds. They argue that no environmental review was conducted before construction began. And they argue that the Lincoln Memorial weigh-ins violate NPS regulations that restrict special events at that site to ceremonies honoring Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Their attorney, Brendan Ballou, was direct about what the lawsuit is actually about.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain.”
VIP ticket packages for the event have been reported at prices exceeding $1 million. Sponsors are paying for branding opportunities tied to the White House backdrop. The lawsuit argues that the event technically fails to qualify even under the special rules the Trump administration created for America 250 celebrations — because those rules require the event to be organized by a federal agency or an official semiquincentennial commission. The UFC is neither.
“Rather, UFC Freedom 250 is being held for the financial benefit of the UFC, Paramount, and their advertisers, and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Donald Trump’s birth.”
The White House was not particularly interested in engaging with that framing.
“An obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration.”
Trump, for his part, told Jake Paul in a March interview that he would be at the event. He has also suggested, regarding The Claw, that it is so impressive it might stay.
“Maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”
The emergency injunction request was filed Sunday morning in US District Court for the District of Columbia. A judge will need to rule before Saturday for the lawsuit to have any practical effect. The fight card is six days away. Construction on the South Lawn is complete.