By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – A federal judge declined on Friday to block President Donald Trump from hosting a special Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event on the White House grounds, letting the fights set to be held on Sunday inside a towering new structure proceed.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against two Washington-area residents who argued in a lawsuit that Trump’s administration exceeded its authority in staging the event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250,” by among other things failing to obtain congressional authorization. The plaintiffs had sought a judicial order to block the event.
Mehta said the two challengers “fall short of showing they are ‘directly affected’ by defendants’ actions” and had unreasonably delayed bringing their lawsuit.
A White House spokesperson in a statement said the judge “rightly rejected an untimely and frivolous” effort. Brett Shumate, the head of the Justice Department’s civil division, said in a post on social media: “Fight’s on.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were disappointed but respected the ruling.
“This isn’t a case about a sporting event, it’s about corruption, as a handful of people and companies stand to profit from our public monuments,” they said in a statement.
The UFC event is scheduled to take place on Trump’s 80th birthday as part of the Republican president’s plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. The event features mixed martial arts bouts contested in an octagonal cage situated inside a 92-foot-tall (28-meter-tall) claw-like structure erected in recent weeks on the White House’s South Lawn.
The plaintiffs sued on June 6, arguing that professional sporting events are barred at the site and that the arena constructed for the fights lacks required authorization from Congress.
“This nation’s public monuments should not be loaned out for private exploitation,” the lawsuit said.
The UFC’s parent company is publicly traded TKO Group Holdings. TKO is also the parent company of the professional wrestling organization WWE. Longtime former WWE executive Linda McMahon serves as Trump’s education secretary.
The plaintiffs objected to the commercial motives of the event, which is being held on federal land, and called it “deeply corrupt.”
The Trump administration said in a court filing that the plaintiffs had not shown how they would be harmed by the UFC event. There is a history of holding public events on the White House South Lawn, the Justice Department told Mehta.
The administration said more than 4,000 spectators are expected to attend.
Trump’s ties with UFC date back to the early 2000s, when he agreed to host events at his since-bankrupt Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. UFC Chief Executive Dana White is a close Trump ally.
Trump is facing other lawsuits over construction projects on the White House and elsewhere in the U.S. capital, including his plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the East Wing that he had demolished, and his proposal to close and renovate the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario, Will Dunham and Andrea Ricci)
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