Trump admin offers blunt advice to White House UFC critics as 11th-hour lawsuit looms
Trump administration officials fired back at critics of the planned White House UFC fight, arguing they can simply avoid the event rather than use an 11th-hour lawsuit to block thousands of spectators from gathering on the South Lawn.
"It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend," Department of Justice attorneys wrote in a court filing this week. "Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America."
Preparations for the UFC match have been underway on the South Lawn of the White House for weeks, including the installation of a roughly 90-foot-tall steel arch, dubbed the "claw." The Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit over the weekend on behalf of two Virginia residents in an effort to block the event, sparking the government to urge U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta to reject the plaintiffs' bid.
The suit targets the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to seek an emergency injunction to stop the event, which is expected to attract 4,000 spectators to the White House.
In the brief, DOJ attorneys wrote that more than $60 million has already been spent, attendees have made travel plans, and the fighters have already begun final weight cuts.
They also noted the event has been planned for months, with President Trump first announcing the match in July 2025.
"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," a White House official told Fox News Digital.
"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," the White House official added.
A PIECE OF THE UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT’S SETUP IS SITTING IN PENNSYLVANIA AMISH COUNTRY
Plaintiffs argued that the event will interfere with the White House and National Mall area while describing its setup as "hideous."
The plaintiffs argued that organizers ignored federal permitting rules, skipped environmental reviews and triggered conflict-of-interest concerns invoking National Park Service regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also said the "claw" needed to be built with congressional authorization.
Officials responded that the plaintiffs are not forced to watch the fight and their opinions are not "superior" to those who support the match.
"All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else," the DOJ attorneys wrote.
The plaintiffs must respond with their final brief by 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Public Integrity Project for comment.
Fox News’ Kerri Urban and Mark Meredith contributed to this report.