A political activist and military veteran from Virginia filed a lawsuit in hopes of halting the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship match at the White House. The event, part of the celebratory festivities for the 250th anniversary of the United States, is scheduled for June 14, 2026, Flag Day, and will take place on the South Lawn of the White House. The plaintiffs called the event “deeply corrupt” and filed the lawsuit on Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“On June 14, 2026, for the first time in this nation’s history, a live sporting event will be held on the White House grounds—or at least it will if President Donald J. Trump has his way,” read the lawsuit. “Trump’s administration has authorized the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”), a mixed martial arts promotion, to put on a night of cage fights on the South Lawn. The plan is for fighters to conduct the ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs at the Lincoln Memorial, make pre-fight walkouts from the Oval Office, and do combat in a massive structure now under construction just steps from the Executive Residence.”
“This plan is deeply corrupt,” accused the plaintiffs. “The event, billed as “UFC Freedom 250,” is (as the name suggests) being organized by the UFC, whose chief executive, Dana White, is a close friend and ally of the President. The President is giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.”
Susan Douglas, a retired government employee and left-wing political activist from Virginia, and Paul Romano, a retired Air Force sergeant, Vietnam War veteran, Department of Defense police officer, and anti-Trump protester, claim the UFC match is “unlawful” and that both of them are being “harmed” by the event. Douglas claimed she is suffering “aesthetic, physical, expressive, and procedural harms,” and Romano said he is enduring “aesthetic, dignitary, and procedural harms,” according to court documents. Both are residents of Arlington, Virginia.
“Plaintiffs bring this case to seek judicial relief for their injuries, uphold the rule of law, and protect our nation’s most cherished monuments from corrupt exploitation,” read the lawsuit.
Douglas and Romano also take umbrage with the fact that viewers have to pay “$8.99 plus tax for a Paramount Plus streaming subscription” to watch the UFC match. Both also accuse the event of not really being part of the country’s 250th celebration but rather a “private, for-profit sporting event” that is “‘planned, organized, and executed’ by the UFC.” They also claim the event is an elaborate production planned for Trump’s birthday, which is also on June 14.
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“It is not in any material sense a ‘celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence” — it is, instead, a celebration of the UFC’s brand and the 80th anniversary of Donald Trump’s birth,” read the lawsuit.
The White House has rejected the claims in the lawsuits, calling them an “obstructionist” effort aimed at preventing the president from hosting an iconic sporting event.
“This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” read a statement from the White House. “This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”