Trump's grand sporting season begins with UFC fights on White House lawn

Highlights:

• Freedom 250 group organises events to promote US 250th anniversary and Trump's legacy
• Critics accuse Trump of 'sportswashing' to boost image amid human rights concerns
• Some athletes and politicians worry about politicisation of sports at White House event

President Donald Trump's run of high-profile sporting events begins this week in Washington, with the US leader eager to project an image of strength at home and abroad.

At Trump's behest, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will stage a slate of mixed martial arts bouts on the White House lawn on Sunday. The event coincides with Flag Day, a little-observed holiday celebrating the adoption of the US stars and stripes, and Trump's 80th birthday.

He also persuaded IndyCar to hold a Grand Prix race around the National Mall in Washington, DC, later in the summer. And the FIFA World Cup, which was awarded to the US, Canada and Mexico in 2018 during Trump's first presidency, started this week.

"We're going to showcase our country that whole weekend because of the surroundings that we have," said Bud Denker, chair of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix and president of Penske Corp. "I really think it excites him (Trump) that it provides this positivity to our country when we need it."

US officials hope to use the momentum from these events to promote the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles — and elevate the president's geopolitical brand.

Congress established a nonpartisan commission to plan events around the country's 250th anniversary, but the Trump administration created its own group, Freedom 250, which has scheduled events including the UFC fights and auto race.

Global leaders have taken notice of Trump's interest in sports. In December 2025, FIFA President Gianni Infantino awarded Trump its inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. The following month, Trump ordered a military mission in Venezuela to depose its leader, Nicolás Maduro, followed several weeks later by strikes on Iran.

Almost immediately after the UFC's mixed martial arts fights, Trump is scheduled to visit France for a meeting of G7 leaders. French officials delayed the start of the gathering to avoid a conflict with the UFC event, local media reported.

Trump has called the UFC fights "the greatest show on Earth" and likened the UFC's "Claw" arena looming over the White House's South Lawn to Paris' Eiffel Tower.

Some critics accuse the president of "sportswashing," or using athletic events to bolster his image amid concerns over human rights issues, immigration enforcement and foreign conflicts.

"We tend to talk about sportswashing when we talk about dictators or oil-rich countries," said Nick Watanabe, who studies sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. "It definitely applies to the United States."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the UFC's growth and the White House fights as "the definition of American soft diplomatic power." He announced a public-private partnership with UFC to incorporate combat sports into the State Department's diplomatic efforts. Rubio did not specify the financial arrangements.

Critics have drawn comparisons to Gulf countries that invest in combat sports organisations, including UFC, to project influence and deflect scrutiny of their human rights records.

"It's him using this opportune moment and it's him trying to place himself at the forefront of 250 years of the American republic," Watanabe said. "There's nothing subtle about it, I think. He wants to show everybody that America is great, and he is the one leader."

Trump's allies said the events reflect Trump's lifelong love of athletics, his business acumen and his efforts to secure his legacy as a transformational president. White House representatives did not respond to multiple Reuters requests for comment.

Sports as a unifier

Julia Friedland, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, said: "Sports have long served as a common language that brings Americans together, and that spirit is reflected throughout the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations."

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a statement that Trump "is the greatest champion for sports of any president in American history," and that the UFC event "is a testament to his vision to celebrate America's monumental 250th anniversary."

The UFC event has drawn critics simply because it's tied to Trump, said Mark Teixeira, a Texas Republican and former Major League Baseball star. "If you're getting bent out of shape about a sporting event in Washington, DC — we have a lot bigger problems in our country," he said.

Trump's history with mixed martial arts predates his political career. UFC held its first sanctioned event at Trump's Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2000. UFC's early shows after the company was sold in 2001 also took place at the Taj Mahal, and Trump later attempted MMA promotion himself in 2008 and 2009.

Beyond MMA, Trump has on multiple occasions attempted to buy a National Football League team. At one point, he purchased a franchise in a failed football league that competed with the NFL for talent.

Some political opponents with sports backgrounds expressed concern about the White House event.

Representative Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who fought two professional MMA bouts herself, said the sight of a massive, temporary arena rising at the White House gives her pause at a time when consumer costs are spiralling and the US is at war. She told Reuters she also worries that Trump's attachment to UFC could taint the sport.

"My main concern is seeing the politicisation of a sport that I hope continues to grow and that people continue to find and fall in love with," she said.

UFC fighters told Reuters they had different plans on how to handle the pomp and circumstance — and politics.

Lightweight competitor Michael Chandler, who publicly praised Trump in the past, said he'd try to tune out the atmosphere and treat the fight as any other. Canadian bantamweight fighter Aiemann Zahabi expects to face boos and jeers while fighting American Sean O'Malley, an avowed Trump supporter.

But Zahabi said he'd look for ways to acknowledge the occasion and the president.

"It's something that's probably never going to be repeated again," Zahabi said. "It's a one-off, and you know, Trump's an eccentric guy, and you know, he loves MMA. He loves UFC... I think of it (as) just one big celebration."

Advocacy groups say they're concerned that the scene at the venue injects politics — and deference to Trump — into the sports action.

"Rising authoritarianism, large-scale conflicts, and global retreat from multilateralism all have direct consequences to sport," said Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, a nonprofit human rights group.

"Global actors vie for power, but they use sports as a weapon, and we have seen Donald Trump and the US under his administration using sports in different ways."