Donald Trump bought stock in the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) just as the White House prepared to host a made-for-TV fight spectacle that could shower the business with publicity.
In the latest example of the billionaire president blurring the line between public office and personal enrichment, financial disclosures released this month showed Trump purchased up to $50,000 worth of shares of TKO Group Holdings, the publicly traded sports giant that owns both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
The investment follows a smaller purchase of up to $15,000 that Trump made last year, just before he announced the historic June 14 event during a rally in Iowa.
And with weeks before the historic spectacle, the White House now resembles a construction zone, with a 5000-seat pop up arena being built on the grounds of the South Lawn, alongside Trump’s new ballroom and the six-story military fortress quietly being built beneath it.
“This is what Trump’s done to the people’s house,” former First Lady Hillary Clinton wrote on X on Friday, alongside a photo of the construction taking place.
“A third of it is rubble. Another third is a cage match. What a metaphor.”
The historic “UFC Freedom 250″ event will coincide with Trump’s 80th birthday and is set to be a boon for the franchise.
White House insiders say they have been swamped with requests to attend, with donors, lobbyists and members of Congress all desperate for one of the 5000 VIP tickets on offer.
This is good news for TKO—and in turn, its shareholders—which recently posted first-quarter revenue of $1.14 billion, up sharply from a year earlier. The company also openly touted the White House event as a major business opportunity.
“With UFC Freedom 250 at the White House and On Location’s FIFA World Cup partnership, TKO will take center stage this summer, crowning moments for audience growth, cultural relevance, and our business trajectory,” said president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro.
The White House is yet to comment on the latest purchase of UFC stock, but critics say the investment fits into a broader pattern in which Trump has repeatedly used the presidency to promote ventures that directly or indirectly enrich him and his allies.
“When it comes to Trump’s grift, brazen is an understatement,” said Lauren White from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“Using the White House to promote a company and simultaneously buying stock in that company is an unbelievable conflict of interest. Trump is acting as though “the people’s house” is an advertising agency and stock exchange. It could not be more obvious that his focus is not serving the public, it’s enriching himself."
Since returning to office, the billionaire president has continued to profit from licensing deals, branded merchandise, crypto projects, golf properties and his Truth Social media company while simultaneously leveraging the visibility and power of the presidency.
This week, he even turned his latest Cabinet meeting into a merchandising opportunity, displaying new “USA 250 Anniversary” hats prominently in front of senior officials as the cameras rolled.
The caps generally retail for $55 on the online store for the Trump Organization, the empire that benefits the president and his family.
Trump’s latest financial filings also showed he had made more than 3,700 transactions, including securities of companies that he had talked up at events and in social media posts, such as Palantir, Nvidia, Apple and Amazon.
In a particularly staggering purchase, the president also bought more than $1 million in Dell Technologies stock weeks before the tech giant secured a $9.7 billion Pentagon contract.
But Vice President JD Vance recently defended Trump’s trades, telling reporters: “The president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks. That’s absurd.”
“He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business. He’s not making these stock trades himself.”
The UFC event has been heavily promoted by the White House and Trump ally Dana White, who runs the entertainment giant.
But even White admitted that the event could hurt Trump, given many Americans are already questioning the president’s priorities as cost-of-living pressures soar.
Asked if he thought Trump “needs” the controversial fight, White admitted, “probably not.”
“I bet he probably wishes that this wasn’t happening, but it’s happening,” he told Rolling Stone.
Podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan described the concept as a “gimmick” and warned this month that it could be dangerous for fighters, who are used to fighting in controlled conditions indoors - not DC’s blistering summer heat.
“I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all. There are too many problems with it,” Rogan said on a recent episode of his podcast. “In June, in D.C., we looked it up last year—the same day was 100 degrees.”
