Trump begins 'tacky' new UFC ring at the White House
Donald Trump is known for being a major UFC fan, but critics are unimpressed with his latest decision to build a UFC ring at the White House.
The President is often seen at UFC events, and last year he announced a fight would be held at the White House for America's 250th birthday, also known as the Semiquincentennial.
The special occasion falls on July 4, 2026, and marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
It's also being held to celebrate Trump's birthday, on June 14, when he will be turning 80.
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"We’re going to have a UFC fight – think of this – on the grounds of the White House," Trump revealed.
He added: "We have a lot of land there. We are going to build a little – we are not, Dana is going to do it.
"We are going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20-25,000 people, and we are going to do that as part of 250 also."
Cranes have now been spotted outside the White House as work on the project begins to build the ring on the lawn and installing an enormous lighting rig.
Trump also posted an image, showing what the ring will look like, complete with suitably patriotic red, white, and blue lights.
The fight, on Trump's birthday, will see lightweight champion Ilia Topuria take on interim champion Justin Gaethje.
It seems plans have scaled back since his first mention of the event, though, as rather than 20-25,000 people like he mentioned, there will instead be seating for around 4,000 people.
Instead, there will be screens nearby to broadcast it to ‘75,000 people', the President claims.
Critics hit out at the announcement and the rendering, calling it a 'parody' and 'tacky.
Another wrote: "This is beyond classless!" and 'out-of-touch'.
"America is the laughing stock of the world," fumed another, while one quipped; "What’s next? A monster truck show?"
Someone else joked: "Circus at the White House. Bozo the Clown is hosting! Yay!"
"So tacky. I’ll be glad when this frat party presidency is over," pleaded another.
It's a very different event from the last bicentennial held in 1976, which featured cultural programmes and a massive fireworks display at the White House.
As well as the UFC fight, Trump also wants to mint coins with his face on, which would violate a 1866 law that bans a living person from appearing on US currency.
He also wants to build a 250ft arc to commemorate the 250 years, inspired by France's Arc de Triomphe - with people already dubbing it 'Arc de Trump'.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CNN: "The Arch is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world".
Other critics asked who was paying for the UFC ring, but CEO Dana White said in January that UFC were paying for it.
They have not said how much it will cost in total, but did say they would shell out $700,000 to replace the South Lawn after the fights.
Sport Business Journal asked if taxpayers would shoulder any of the cost, and Whit replied: “No, we’re eating the whole thing, so yeah, it’s going to be a historic one-of-one fight, and just like I talked about with the Sphere, we’re going to make the Sphere look like ash tray money.”
To put that in perspective, UFC reportedly spent around $20M on the September 2024 fight card at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Topics: Politics, Sport, Donald Trump, US News
Jen Thomas