Trump UFC fight at White House gets green light from judge

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for a UFC mixed martial arts event to be held on the South Lawn of the White House this weekend, rejecting a last-minute lawsuit that sought to stop it. The event, called “UFC Freedom 250,” is planned to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary and falls on President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the plaintiffs, an activist and a Vietnam War veteran, likely do not have legal standing to challenge the event. He also said they failed to prove they would suffer irreparable harm if it went ahead. The judge cited their “unreasonable delay” in filing the lawsuit, noting the event had been planned for months. “In the context of an emergency application — and coupled with the fact that the UFC fight date was long ago known — it is fair to say Plaintiffs unreasonably delayed bringing suit,” Mehta wrote. The plaintiffs had also asked the court to block the construction of a 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel structure called “The Claw” on White House grounds. The judge said any “aesthetic harms” from the structure were temporary, as it will be taken down starting Monday. The White House called the lawsuit a baseless attempt to prevent Trump from hosting an event similar to others held at public forums in the capital. Plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the administration cannot legally issue permits for a private, for-profit sporting event on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial. They noted that VIP packages cost millions of dollars. “The President’s administration is granting the UFC an extraordinary business opportunity it may not lawfully grant,” the attorneys wrote. The National Park Service and the Interior Department are named as defendants. Trump, a Republican, became the first sitting president to attend a UFC show in 2019. He is a friend of UFC president and CEO Dana White. Mehta was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and has presided over other cases involving Trump.