{"id":147242,"date":"2026-06-14T21:51:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/how-trump-and-his-allies-could-profit-from-the-ufc-fight-at-the-white-house\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T21:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:51:31","slug":"how-trump-and-his-allies-could-profit-from-the-ufc-fight-at-the-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/how-trump-and-his-allies-could-profit-from-the-ufc-fight-at-the-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump and his allies could profit from the UFC fight at the White House"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mixed martial arts fighters parading through the chamber of the Lincoln Memorial before descending its steps for a face-off and press conference. Weigh-ins on the Ellipse. A star-spangled 90-foot \u201cClaw\u201d towering over the White House South Lawn. An octagon-shaped ring turned prime ad space \u2014 sponsors including Bud Light, Crypto.com and Polymarket paid substantial sums to have their names displayed \u2014 with the \u201cPeople\u2019s House\u201d as the backdrop. Thousands of seats surround the ring where fighters will square off on Sunday for \u201cUFC Freedom 250,\u201d which CEO Dana White has predicted will draw \u201cSuper Bowl-type numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

But behind the public spectacle are concerns about personal profit \u2014 and that President Donald Trump and his allies are positioned to benefit financially from the power of the presidency.<\/p>\n

Trump purchased tens of thousands<\/a> of dollars\u2019 worth of stock in UFC\u2019s parent company while promoting the event, according to a May financial disclosure. He\u2019s holding a $1 million-per-plate fundraiser for his top super PAC<\/a> the night before the cage match. And Trump \u201cofficially designed\u201d a line of \u201cTrump x UFC Freedom 250\u201d medallions<\/a>, which are selling for $250 to $12,000.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those are just three of the ways the president stands to benefit from Sunday\u2019s UFC event at the White House, which marks the president\u2019s 80th birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a real distillation of this administration, which is to take public property and use it for private benefit,\u201d said Brendan Ballou, a former Justice Department prosecutor who represented the plaintiffs who lost a court battle to stop the fight. \u201cThe danger in having corruption normalized is it will fundamentally tell the very rich and powerful that they are beyond reach of the law \u2014 and that message will extend beyond this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sponsorship packages including ringside seats are being sold for $1 million<\/a> or more<\/a>. Asked if any of the money from those ticket sales would go to the president or his political or private business interests, a White House official said the administration has not been involved in any cost negotiations or sponsorship discussions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government is not making any money on this event. UFC is funding and paying for this entire event,\u201d the official said, adding that no taxpayer dollars would be used \u201coutside of what would be applied towards employees\u2019 normal duties and responsibilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whatever the financial arrangements, historians say there\u2019s no real precedent for any of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of any previous president doing anything like it,\u201d said Marc Selverstone, a historian at the University of Virginia\u2019s Miller Center. \u201cOf course, presidents have long hosted sporting engagements at the White House, from tennis to golf to bowling to even T-ball for kids. But I can\u2019t think of anything that\u2019s been so commercialized as the UFC event, nor anything as publicly martial or gladiatorial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPast presidents typically took extreme care to keep their private finances and business interests separate from the presidency,\u201d said Nicole Anslover, a historian at Florida Atlantic University. \u201cPresident Trump is breaking that precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UFC fight isn\u2019t the only construction project remaking the White House grounds this year \u2014 and it isn\u2019t the only one where the administration has tried to control what the public sees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On Thursday, officials opened the UFC arena on the South Lawn for a press preview, allowing reporters to take photos and video. But they were barred from photographing or filming the demolished East Wing and the ongoing construction of Trump\u2019s massive new ballroom nearby. One Secret Service officer even ordered a reporter to delete an iPhone photo he had taken of the construction site.<\/p>\n

The Claw itself is also a break from precedent, Anslover said. Trump\u2019s predecessors altered the White House grounds to accommodate personal sports hobbies \u2014 Harry Truman added a bowling alley, privately funded by friends from Missouri, and Barack Obama had part of a tennis court converted to double as a basketball court \u2014 but those were for private use, not \u201ca massive structure to be used for public profit-making events,\u201d Anslover told MS NOW.<\/p>\n

The White House would not answer basic questions about how much access UFC fighters will have to the White House grounds, including whether they will emerge from the Oval Office \u2014 as Time magazine has reported<\/a> \u2014 or the Executive Mansion\u2019s Red and Green rooms for their walkouts to the caged octagon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The White House referred MS NOW to the UFC; the UFC did not respond to a request for comment. A White House official told MS NOW that fighters will have dressing rooms in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and make their way from that building on what\u2019s known as the \u201ctradesman route,\u201d historically used by contractors and service workers. They\u2019ll enter the venue through the Palm Room doors, the official said, which open to the Rose Garden.<\/p>\n

As for who will tend to the fighters, the White House said the UFC is using its own medical corps to manage the contestants\u2019 medical needs, while the White House Medical Unit will be responsible for all patrons on the Ellipse and South Lawn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A court filing on June 10 offered a glimpse of how choreographed the spectacle will be. According to the filing, on Friday each fighter will enter the Lincoln Memorial chamber by elevator from a lower level \u2014 accompanied by a child \u2014 before being filmed walking through the chamber and descending the steps to the press conference area. National Park Service staff, the filing notes, are also weighing a request to mount a camera on the memorial\u2019s lighting equipment.<\/p>\n

Jacqueline Alemany contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Correction:<\/em><\/strong> An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of Trump\u2019s purchase of stock in UFC\u2019s parent company.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n