A lawsuit filed Sunday seeks to halt UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, with the plaintiffs describing the event as a corrupt scheme that hands the White House South Lawn to a private corporation so that President Donald Trump and UFC CEO Dana White can profit.
The complaint was acquired by MMA Fighting and filed by retired Air Force Sergeant and Vietnam veteran Paul Romano and civic activist Susan Douglas. Their attorney, Samuel T. Ward-Packard of the Public Integrity Project, framed the central allegation directly.
The event, scheduled for June 14, was conceived by President Trump and organized by UFC CEO Dana White, a close personal ally of Trump, and will benefit both men financially.
The suit points to Trump purchasing up to $50,000 in UFC parent company TKO stock earlier this spring, while White’s company is selling VIP packages at $1.5 million each. Ward-Packard also noted that a TKO executive described the event as “the greatest earned-marketing tool of all time.”
The complaint rests on three arguments. The first alleges a violation of National Park Service agreements that prohibit sporting events on federal parklands. The second targets “The Claw” staging structure on the South Lawn, which the suit says lacks the congressional authorization required for building on federal parklands. The third raises concerns about potential taxpayer costs for South Lawn repairs.
Douglas stated the case plainly.
The President arranged to hand two of America’s most cherished monuments to a private corporation so he and his allies could profit from them. That is corruption. These monuments belong to all of us Americans, not to Dana White, not to advertisers like Crypto.com, and not to Donald Trump. We’re asking the court to enforce the law because the administration refuses to.
The plaintiffs are also filing for a temporary restraining order which, if granted, could halt the event entirely while the court reviews the case. A weigh-in is scheduled for June 13 at the Lincoln Memorial.
UFC Freedom 250 is headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the undisputed lightweight title.
