A lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump’s planned UFC event on the White House South Lawn has ignited debate over how presidents use the executive mansion’s grounds. The lawsuit, filed by a political activist and military veteran from Virginia, argues the administration improperly authorized Saturday’s “UFC Freedom 250” event under rules intended for the nation’s 250th anniversary. While sports have been part of White House life for more than a century, Trump’s proposal would introduce an element largely absent from previous presidential athletic pursuits: an independently owned, commercially produced event.
The lawsuit contends that the mixed martial arts card is being organized and financed by an independent company rather than the federal government and therefore should not qualify for special permitting exemptions, calling the event “deeply corrupt” because it celebrates the UFC’s brand and falls on Trump’s 80th birthday, which is also Flag Day.
Although a full professional combat sports card has never been hosted at the White House, sports are hardly new for the president’s home.
President Theodore Roosevelt installed a tennis court on the grounds in 1902 and regularly played a circle of advisers and friends known as the “Tennis Cabinet.” Roosevelt had also installed a training ground in the property’s basement, which he used for personal exercise.
