UFC Freedom 250: White House Event Challenged by Federal Lawsuit

The UFC White House event scheduled for Sunday, June 14 has been challenged by a federal lawsuit alleging it is illegal.

UFC Freedom 250 is set to take place on the South Lawn of the White House on US President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday as part of the United States’ celebration of 250 years of independence.

However, the Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit — seeking an emergency temporary retraining order — against the event, billed as the first professional sporting event to be held on White House grounds.

“We think this is a profound abuse of our sacred national monuments for personal gain. And we think it needs to be stopped because it breaks the law,” said Brendan Ballou, lead attorney for the Public Integrity Project.

The Public Integrity Project is a self-described anti-corruption law firm based in Washington. It is led by Democrats, including former senator Russ Feingold and politician Jeffery Teachout, and has brought several lawsuits against Trump, including one to undo sales of the social media app TikTok and another to freeze billions of dollars in “anti-weaponization” funding.

The group argues that Trump and the UFC believe they don’t have to apply for permission to use the National Mall, ask Congress to authorize the construction of “The Claw” at the White House, or conduct an environmental review, because the fight is part of a special sesquicentennial celebration.

But it says the event does not celebrate the country’s founding anniversary “in any material sense” and is not managed by the federal government or the official commission steering the anniversary observance.

The Trump administration issued a response to the BBC: “This is an obstructionist, baseless and misleading lawsuit brought solely to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our nation’s history as we celebrate our half-centennial.”