Trump wants grass greener on his side of fence after UFC event on South Lawn

Trump, who calls himself an expert on grass from his golf courses, chose a proprietary blend of eight grasses chosen for durability and heat tolerance.Show Caption

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump wants the grass greener on his side of the fence.He selected a proprietary blend of eight grasses that the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. offered as part of a $1 million pledge to restore the White House’s South Lawn after the UFC Freedom 250 event on June 14.Trampling is nothing new to the iconic lawn. The Easter egg roll, the congressional picnic and year-round Marine One landings take their toll. Trump’s UFC event erected an arena nicknamed the “Claw” for its slate of fights and hosted 4,000 spectators.Critics tried to block the event in part because of potential damage to the historic grounds. But UFC estimated it would spend $700,000 to fix damage from the Claw and crowd, and U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta let the show go on."The risk of any significant environmental damage therefore appears remote," he wrote.To repair the damage, Trump chose a blend of tall fescues, a grass known for durability and heat tolerance, and Kentucky bluegrasses, which have disease tolerance and thickening characteristics, according to ScottsMiracle-Gro. The company is coordinating the restoration with the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds."Creating a proprietary blend for the White House’s unique conditions presented a distinct set of challenges," Matthew Koch, a research fellow for lawns at the company, said in a statement. “It is a functional lawn that has to stand up to hundreds of events and thousands of people each year.”Trump has called himself an expert on grasses from his experience developing – and playing on – golf courses around the world.“I’m very good at grass because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place,” Trump told law enforcement personnel in DC in August 2025. “I know more about grass than any human being, I think, anywhere in the world.”ScottsMiracle-Gro said restoring the lawn would begin with the installation of sod. That would be followed by overseeding with the custom formula of grasses to enhance density, durability, color and turf health."The White House South Lawn is more than just a landscape,” Jim Hagedorn, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “It is a living piece of U.S. history, a stage for global diplomacy and, truly, the backyard of the American people.”