Chicago – June 12, 2026
A federal judge has rejected a legal request to block President Donald Trump from hosting a UFC fight at the White House this weekend, allowing the controversial event to proceed.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, appointed by former President Barack Obama, denied the temporary restraining order sought by two Virginia residents on Friday. The plaintiffs argued the event, scheduled for Sunday on the South Lawn, would cause harm but failed to prove sufficient legal “standing” to challenge it.
“The two plaintiffs do not have the legal right — known as ‘standing’ — to challenge the event,” Mehta concluded in his 15-page opinion, making no ruling on the fight’s legality itself. The event, called UFC Freedom 250, commemorates the nation’s 250th anniversary and coincides with President Trump’s 80th birthday.
The Trump administration had previously urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it “untimely” and attacking the plaintiffs as people who “want to spoil the event for everyone else”. The White House labeled the lawsuit a “baseless attempt” to prevent Trump from hosting an event similar to others held in Washington.
Organizers can now utilize the grand arena already constructed on the lawn for Sunday’s mixed martial arts competition.
