The White House lawn is often the venue for friendly events such as the Easter Egg Roll and a summer picnic for members of Congress and their families.
But next month it will host a more unexpected showpiece: an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight night. Construction of the octagon-shaped caged arena that will host the event on 14 June – Donald Trump’s 80th birthday – has already begun.
Trump has confirmed that the fighters will take their walk to the octagon from the Oval Office. “We’re having a big fight. It’s never going to happen again, never happened before,” Trump said earlier this month.
Shorts
For Trump, the event will be a chance to put his fingerprints even more firmly on the White House. It will also be seen as a continuation of a close friendship between Trump and UFC president Dana White, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention as a vocal supporter of the then-presidential candidate.
