Despite the “musings” of Donald Trump, the ex-Apprentice host is still going to get his 80th birthday present from UFC boss Dana White this weekend.
A federal judge has slapped down the last minute move by Susan Douglas and Paul Romano to choke out the June 14 scheduled and Paramount+ streamed cage fights from the White House South Lawn.
“Plaintiffs’ asserted harms also are not irreparable because they are both ancillary and temporary,” Judge Amit P. Mehta wrote in a Executive Mansion welcomed ruling today on the Public Integrity Project-backed lawsuit.
“Neither Plaintiff claims they will be in the vicinity of the White House or Lincoln Memorial for the primary purpose of enjoying their architectural grandeur, natural beauty, or historical import,” the Barack Obama appointed Mehta added. Rather, Romano’s reason is work-related, and Douglas’s is to exercise her First Amendment rights. Their claimed aesthetic harms are thus ancillary to the main reasons for their presence. Their harms are also decidedly temporary.”
In their filing of last weekend, the Virginia residents challenged the authorization of the Ultimate Fighting Championship spectacle. The duo and the PIP argued the multi-fighter event is “a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.” Essentially, Douglas and Romano claim this is vanity exercise for the authoritarian inclinded Trump and a payoff for his buddy White, with big buzz for POTUS’ “good friends” Paramount owner David Ellison and his father and Oracle founder Larry Ellison and not genuine celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. To that, they believed the bus-up was in no way exempt from typical rules that prohibit special events on the South Lawn or the Lincoln Memorial, where a weigh-in is planned for today.
Via the National Parks Services, the administration leap on June 9 to get the lawsuit stopped.
To that, Judge Mehta emphasised in his 15-page ruling that there are larger factors at play, this USA25 year in particular. He also noted that like an Elton John show outside the White House or a number of events past presidents have held on the South Lawn, none of this is permanent — despite what Trump may say.
The judge said: “The Claw will be disassembled beginning at 10:00 a.m. on June 15, 2026. And any staging equipment at the Lincoln Memorial must be removed before then. The President’s musings about permanency of the Claw does not move the dial in the face of a White House official’s clear representation. Such ancillary and ephemeral harm is not sufficiently “great” to warrant extraordinary relief.”
Economics also played a role in Judge Mehta’s open and shut decision to not put the kibosh on the alleged $60 million UFC Freedom 250 gathering of Trump, White, Joe Rogan and 4,000 guests (not to mention an estimated 120,000 watching on the nearby Eclipse).
Leaning into the initial suit’s references to a “near year-long planning of the event; coordination with multiple government agencies, including the Secret Service; site work that began May 20 and has involved between 700 to 900 workers; multiple equipment deliveries; event ticketing logistics; and preparations of the contracted UFC fighters,” the judge plainly says that when it comes to killing the 5 pm PT/8 pm ET fight “the potential loss of those dollars resulting from a last-minute, court-ordered stoppage cannot be ignored.”
All of which, with the clocking ticking, was welcomed news to the constantly scandal, competency and court challenged MAGA administration.
“The court rightly rejected an untimely and frivolous effort to halt the historic UFC event hosted to honor the 250th anniversary of our Nation,” the White House’s Davis Ingle told Deadline today. “The White House is thankful for this correct decision and looks forward to hosting this once-in-a-lifetime celebration on the South Lawn.”
Of course, while it won’t b the courts that stop the UFC at the White House, it could be as my colleague Ted Johnson and others have noted, Mother Nature that will — or at least put a damper on things for Trump. Temperatures in DC are expected to top 93°F with heavy humidity and light rain on Sunday. And this being our nation’s capitol, that means that things could get electric pretty fast with the constant possibilities of thunderstorms.
So, the sports anthem of AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ could end up taking on a whole new meaning at Freedom 250.
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