President Donald Trump’s decision to turn the White House into a UFC arena drew fierce backlash, with D.C. residents branding the taxpayer-funded spectacle a “circus” and a “clown show.”
The event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250,” was staged Sunday as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary—but conveniently coincided with Trump’s 80th birthday.
More than 4,000 spectators packed a specially constructed arena on the South Lawn, where Trump watched from cageside alongside first lady Melania Trump and UFC CEO Dana White.
The festivities began with a military flyover that rattled parts of the capital, with some residents reporting that the noise shook nearby buildings.
The event also drew a host of high-profile attendees, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
But not everyone was impressed. Reporting from outside the White House, MS Now’s Nnamdi Egwuonwu said he had spoken with residents who took issue with the event, describing it as a “circus” and a “spectacle.”
“I just spoke to a gentleman who called it a ‘clown show,’ and [was] really taking issue with the amount of taxpayer resources going to this,” Egwuonwu said.
One local resident questioned the connection between mixed martial arts and a national celebration.
“It’s a circus rather than a celebration of the country,” he said. “I still feel like we’ve gotten away from all of the things that make the country great, all of the other historical facts. I’m not sure where UFC fits in with a celebration of the United States and our existence, but go figure.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
The event was paid for by the UFC, costing around $60 million. But Egwuonwu noted there was also a high cost to taxpayers.
“According to a court filing, it cost around $60 million. But when you think about the law enforcement presence here, I mean, we have seen DEA, we have seen U.S. Marshals. We’ve seen the National Guard, Maryland State troopers, metropolitan police, Secret Service agents—a huge law enforcement presence here. The fact that they’ve closed multiple major roads, there is still a very large taxpayer cost,” he said.
But it seems White, the UFC chief, is in no rush to host another UFC event at the White House.
“I can’t afford it. There’s no f---ing way we can do this again… We’ll never do this again,” White told a press conference.
