President Donald Trump has admitted he won’t be able to keep all his suck-ups happy this summer.
The 79-year-old is planning to hold a 4,000-capacity UFC fight on the White House’s South Lawn on June 14 to mark both 250 years of the U.S. and his own 80th birthday.
“I’m going to make a lot of enemies because it’s impossible to get everyone tickets,” he told NBC News.
It is also planned that an extra 85,000 people will gather on The Ellipse, south of the White House, to watch on a big screen. But seats in the arena are the hot ticket, as loyal Trump cronies clamor to be in the room for his big party.
The worlds of MAGA and UFC—Ultimate Fighting Championship—have a big overlap, with people like fight-night commentator-come-podcaster Joe Rogan commanding huge sway in the manosphere media world and within the UFC. He also has a personal relationship with Trump, and his endorsement is a big deal.
Tickets to the area are technically free, and UFC is footing the bill for the event. The president and chief operating officer of UFC’s parent company, TKO, Mark Shapiro, said on a May earnings call that he expects losses to stand around $30 million.
UFC CEO Dana White, meanwhile, told Sports Business Journal in October, “This is just one little piece I was talking about last night: To replace the grass, because we’re going to f--- up the South Lawn, $700,000 just to replace the grass.”
There are, however, sponsorship packages for the uber-rich to ensure they secure a cage-side seat.
Citing The Ariel Helwani Show, BBC Sport reported that Helwani, an MMA reporter, said they are being labeled as partner investments, and that such packages were selling for around $1.5 million
“This is the offer: UFC Freedom 250, a partner welcome reception, press conference reserved seating, ceremonial weigh-ins, general admission access, Zak Brown concert access, UFC 329 floor tickets, and WWE event integration ring signage,” he said. “It’s a deck being sent out to a lot of influential people, high rollers.”
A Republican lobbyist familiar with the matter told NBC that people investing in sponsorship packages are also earning credit with the Trump administration.
“The Trump fundraising team is raising money for it… It’s basically been added to the list of approved entities to give undisclosed money to and get credit with Trump.”
They added, “They are raising a s--t-ton of money and have used it as another unofficial vehicle for corporate donors to give… and gain favor with Trump.”
White is understood to have clung onto 200 tickets out of the 4,300 total for his personal allocation, telling NBC in April: “I only took a handful of tickets; I gave the rest of them to President Trump.”
Trump, meanwhile, is expected to invite a number of people from the military and VIPs, including his friends and family, foreign dignitaries, and members of Congress, NBC reports.
Various administration characters have said they have been approached by people they know to see if they can get them tickets, with White House communications director Steven Cheung saying, “I get calls, texts or emails every day—a few times every day.”
Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, told the network, “It’s so funny because the only thing for the past four months that anyone has asked either of us for is a ticket to this UFC fight.
“I mean, it is the hottest ticket in town. This is going to be maybe the event of his presidency, if I’m being honest.”
Others have suggested that the process has been chaotic, with Sen. Bernie Moreno telling NBC that people are “coming out of the woodwork” for tickets, despite him not even knowing if he has one himself.
“The process has been absolute chaos,” one unnamed Trump adviser told NBC. “It’s hard to overstate how many requests have come in, but there is no doubt the people President Trump wants there will be there, and those he does not will not be.”
Trump has been actively courting Rogan’s approval of late, amid an exodus of right-wing media personalities from his camp. Rogan stood behind Trump in the Oval Office in April as he signed an executive order for the Federal Drug Administration to expand its review of psychedelic drug therapies that Rogan has advocated for.
“This will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history, and President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary,” White House communication director Steven Cheung told the Daily Beast in a statement.
