1 of 4 | The Ultimate Fighting Championship Freedom 250 arena is seen from the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday refused to halt a planned UFC fight on the White House’s South Lawn in response to a lawsuit saying the event violates government regulations.
District Judge Amit P. Mehta of the District of Columbia said the lawsuit brought by Susan Douglas and Paul Romano, both residents of Virginia, failed to show how the event scheduled for Sunday would harm either of the plaintiffs.
The Trump administration is in the process of building a 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel structure on the South Lawn to hold the UFC event on Sunday, which is President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. The event has been advertised as being part of the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, which is July 4.
The lawsuit, in which the plaintiffs are represented by the Public Integrity Project, accuses the Trump administration of circumventing congressional authority and violating National Park Service regulations to construct the structure, which they said is destroying much of the South Lawn. The suit said the erection of such a structure on national monument grounds must be authorized by Congress.
Mehta said the construction of the so-called “Claw” structure on the South Lawn “is an ostensible injury to [the plaintiffs’] aesthetic interests.”
“But Plaintiffs fall short of showing they are ‘directly affected’ by Defendants’ actions,” he wrote.
“The president is giving [UFC CEO Dana] 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,” the original lawsuit reads.
“The UFC is not being coy about the event’s pecuniary nature. One executive recently called it ‘the greatest earned-marketing tool of all time.’ And he is far from the only one salivating at the business upside.”
The lawsuit alleges that Trump also stands to benefit financially from the event. In May, Trump bought $50,000 in TKO stock; TKO owns the UFC and WWE.
The lawsuit says the UFC is selling VIP packages to the event for between $1 million and $1.5 million.
Mehta said blocking the event two days before it is scheduled after a near yearlong planning would “cause substantial harm to other interests,” including time, money and effort spent in preparation.
Defendants “point to the reliance interests of thousands of expected spectators, some of whom have planned visits to the District of Columbia,” Mehta wrote.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about restoring commercial fishing access to areas of the Pacific during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
