President Trump stunningly announced that there would be a UFC fight with up to 25,000 spectators at the White House within the next year to celebrate America’s upcoming 250th birthday.

“Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House,” Trump said in a speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

A bloody cage-match on the White House grounds is likely to draw criticism from the Republican leader’s political opponents — while offering the president an unconventional way of connecting to the public.

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3 President Donald J. Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, July 3, 2025. CRAIG LASSIG/EPA/Shutterstock

3 President Trump and UFC CEO Dana White at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, on June 7. REUTERS

“We have a lot of land there, we’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana is going to do it. Dana is great, one of a kind — going to be UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250’,” Trump, 79, said in the speech.

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Trump is a friend of White, the CEO of UFC, aka the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and attended a fight last month in Newark between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.

Shortly after winning the Nov. 5 election, Trump attended a UFC event at New York’s Madison Square Garden with Elon Musk, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his son Donald Trump Jr. and Kid Rock.

Trump’s visit to Iowa was planned as a kickoff to the America250 events ahead of next year’s Independence Day, but doubled as a celebration of the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed hours earlier, fulfilling campaign pledges to cut taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits.

3 It’s unclear where at the White House the fights would take place. Getty Images

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Trump, who spoke for more than an hour, had spent much of the prior night twisting the arms of holdout House Republicans going into the final vote.

“We’re going to have some incredible events, some professional events, some amateur events. But the UFC fight is going to be a big deal, too,” Trump said, forecasting plans for “every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites” to host “special events in honor of ‘America250’.”

Trump said there would be a “Great American State Fair” in Iowa and at fairgrounds across the country, “culminating in a giant patriotic festival next summer on the National Mall, featuring exhibits from all 50 states.”

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He said he also would be “officially opening the National Garden of American heroes, a vast outdoor park featuring statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived.”

A sporting event called the Patriot Games, meanwhile, would feature “top high school athletes from all 50 states,” he said.

“Exactly one year from tomorrow, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding with a birthday party the likes of which you have never seen before,” Trump touted.

“Together, we’re going to ensure that America’s 250th anniversary is the single greatest year in the city of our country.”

The Big Apple will also host a huge event for the nation’s semiquincentennial bash. Sail4th 250 will be a six-day celebration featuring more than 30 tall ships from international militaries, a Blue Angels flight show, displays of rare historical documents and more.

The Post is a sponsor of the event.

Get ready to see some punches on the White House grounds.

President Trump says he will host a UFC mixed martial arts fight at the White House as part of next year’s festivities celebrating 250 years of American independence.

The idea came up during a Thursday night speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, one year and one day before the 250th anniversary of the 1776 ratification of the Declaration of Independence. The federal government is planning to mark the occasion with a year’s worth of events — including a UFC fight, according to Mr. Trump.

“We’re going to have some incredible events,” the president said. “Some professional events, some amateur events. But the UFC fight is going to be a big deal, too.”

Further details on the event, which is not lacking for possible names (the Rose Garden Fight Night? Oval Office Octagon?), are unclear. But the president is “dead serious” about the idea, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a pool reporter on Thursday. A UFC spokesperson also confirmed the plans to CBS News.

Mr. Trump described it as a “championship fight, full fight” with 20,000 or 25,000 spectators — a tall order for the White House grounds, though Mr. Trump said, “we have a lot of land there.” He said longtime UFC CEO Dana White will organize the event.

“It’s going to be EPIC!” wrote Leavitt on X.

The president’s ties to the UFC go back to at least 2001, when the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City hosted the mixed martial arts enterprise. Since then, Mr. Trump has periodically attended UFC fights, including last month. The president is also close with White, who helped introduce Mr. Trump at last summer’s Republican National Convention and took the stage at Mr. Trump’s election night victory party.

Mr. Trump plugged a handful of other America250 events in his Thursday speech, including a “Great American State Fair,” a National Mall celebration and an athletic competition called the “Patriot Games.”

“I think it’s going to be a wild time,” Mr. Trump told reporters after returning to the D.C. area following the speech.

Donald Trump has announced that a UFC championship fight could be headed to the White House lawn as part of the America250 celebration, commemorating the United States’ 250th birthday in 2026.

Speaking at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on the eve of the Fourth of July, Trump told the crowd that national landmarks across the country will host special events for the milestone celebration. Then he dropped an eyebrow-raising plan: a UFC showdown at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of America250,” Trump said. “We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House.”

He said UFC president Dana White would handle the logistics of the match, which he claimed could draw up to 25,000 attendees and be a “full fight” experience. While Trump was enthusiastic about the idea, no official details have been released.

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Just ahead of the American Independence Day on July 4, US President Donald Trump announced that the White House will be hosting a full-fledged UFC Championship fight next year to commemorate the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.

“Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House,” he made the stunning admission at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

A day before the United States officially kicked off colourful exuberance and festivities tied to its Independence Day extravaganza, the official White House website commenced a momentous countdown to America’s 250th Anniversary.

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“On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the most important milestone in our country’s history—250 years of American Independence,” the website said. In an official statement highlighted on the page dedicated to the ‘America250’ affair, the WH said the Salute to American 250 Task Force (“Task Force 250”) had began planning a full years of celebrations that would continue all through July 4, 2026.

.@POTUS: Exactly one year from tomorrow, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding…

This evening, we are officially launching “AMERICA 250” — an enormous, year-long, nationwide celebration of our heritage, our flag, and our glorious American freedom. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ffQuiio1WY — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 4, 2025

Donald Trump’s UFC collaboration deepens

The UFC event at the White House then comes under the larger slate of commemorative schedules linked to the ‘America250’ effort, which marks the nation’s 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Trump’s latest UFC venture only adds to his long-running association with his staunch ally and supporter, UFC President Dana White. As per the president’s description, White would be on hand to organise the event that would ultimately take place on the White House lawn, hosting up to 25,000 attendees.

“Dana is great, one of a kind,” Trump added. “We’re going to do that as part of ‘250’ also.” Despite the Republican leader’s jaw-dropping revelation, it remains unclear whether the “championship fight” has officially received clearance from the White House, Secret Service or city officials. While UFC had yet to make an official comment on the development at the time of writing, Dana White seemingly affirmed the stunning statement by re-posting a related social media post on X.

Just last month, Donald Trump made a fist-pumping entrance at an UFC 316 event in Newark amid Los Angeles riots. Visuals of him walking into the stadium went viral on social media, as the larger fraction of attendees erupted with “USA” chants with White walking by his side.

US President Donald Trump will host a UFC fight at the White House as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, which he announced at a rally on Thursday in Iowa, UNN reports with reference to Axios.

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“Each of our national park battlefields and historic sites will host special events in honor of America250, and I even think we’ll have a UFC fight,” Trump said ahead of the July 4th Independence Day holiday during a speech at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, which kicked off the year-long 250th anniversary celebration.

The US President’s ties to the Ultimate Fighting Championship date back to at least 2001, when the now-closed Trump Taj Mahal hosted the mixed martial arts event.

Since then, Trump has attended several UFC fights and is a good friend of the company’s CEO, Dana White, who introduced Trump at the Republican National Convention before he accepted the Republican presidential nomination last year.

Trump said White would organize the UFC event at the White House.

“It’s going to be a championship fight, a full-fledged fight, about 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re also going to do it as part of ‘250,’” he said.

Other celebrations will include a “great American states fair” that will “bring the America250 program to fairgrounds across the country, culminating in a giant patriotic festival next summer on the National Mall, featuring exhibits from all 50 states,” according to Trump.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “quite serious” about the UFC fight plans, according to a White House report.

Trump also plans to hold a “signing celebration” at the White House on Friday, where he will sign his “big, beautiful bill” 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, according to his Truth Social post before the Des Moines rally.

US House of Representatives passed Trump’s “big and beautiful” spending and tax bill