Travis Gettys
June 11, 2026
RAW STORY
Construction continues on a temporary arena that will host the UFC Freedom 250 fight event in June on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump's birthday celebration on the White House lawn was disparaged as a "volcano of corruption" in a new legal challenge.
Attorneys fighting to block this weekend's UFC matches at the White House told a federal judge Wednesday the president and his allies stand to profit from what they called "the first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds" — and warned the country is approaching a historic moment of institutional corruption, reported MS NOW.
"Such a volcano of corruption, if allowed to go forward, will mark an inflection point in American history," argued plaintiffs Susan Douglas and Paul Romano in their final filing.
The plaintiffs, attorneys from the Public Integrity Project, painted a portrait of interlocking financial interests at the heart of the planned three-day spectacle, which is set to culminate Sunday — Trump's 80th birthday — with seven professional UFC bouts staged on the South Lawn inside a massive temporary structure known as "the Claw."
They pointed to million-dollar VIP packages, brand placement opportunities near the Lincoln Memorial, and an exclusive broadcast on Paramount Plus, a streaming service run by Trump allies Larry and David Ellison. No American, they noted, will be able to watch the self-described "celebration of America" without paying a subscription fee.
They further alleged Trump bought stock in the company that owns the UFC earlier this spring, giving him a direct financial stake in the event's success. UFC head Dana White, who has organized the spectacle alongside the White House, is a longtime personal friend and political ally of the president.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit meritless and said the plaintiffs were merely seeking "to complain about that which offends their sensibilities." Officials also argued the suit's last-minute timing alone should disqualify it, noting the event was publicly announced nearly a year ago.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, must now decide whether the fights go on — or whether the volcano gets capped.
Construction continues on a temporary arena that will host the UFC Freedom 250 fight event in June on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump's birthday celebration on the White House lawn was disparaged as a "volcano of corruption" in a new legal challenge.
Attorneys fighting to block this weekend's UFC matches at the White House told a federal judge Wednesday the president and his allies stand to profit from what they called "the first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds" — and warned the country is approaching a historic moment of institutional corruption, reported MS NOW.
"Such a volcano of corruption, if allowed to go forward, will mark an inflection point in American history," argued plaintiffs Susan Douglas and Paul Romano in their final filing.
The plaintiffs, attorneys from the Public Integrity Project, painted a portrait of interlocking financial interests at the heart of the planned three-day spectacle, which is set to culminate Sunday — Trump's 80th birthday — with seven professional UFC bouts staged on the South Lawn inside a massive temporary structure known as "the Claw."
They pointed to million-dollar VIP packages, brand placement opportunities near the Lincoln Memorial, and an exclusive broadcast on Paramount Plus, a streaming service run by Trump allies Larry and David Ellison. No American, they noted, will be able to watch the self-described "celebration of America" without paying a subscription fee.
They further alleged Trump bought stock in the company that owns the UFC earlier this spring, giving him a direct financial stake in the event's success. UFC head Dana White, who has organized the spectacle alongside the White House, is a longtime personal friend and political ally of the president.
The Trump administration called the lawsuit meritless and said the plaintiffs were merely seeking "to complain about that which offends their sensibilities." Officials also argued the suit's last-minute timing alone should disqualify it, noting the event was publicly announced nearly a year ago.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, must now decide whether the fights go on — or whether the volcano gets capped.
Growing rebellion exposed as Trump's Great American State Fair dealt another big blow
Daniel Hampton
June 11, 2026
Daniel Hampton
June 11, 2026
RAW STORY
People walk past a sign of the UFC Freedom 250 fight card, near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump's birthday bash for America is hitting fresh trouble, with at least six states publicly saying they will not officially participate in his Great American State Fair, NOTUS reported Wednesday.
Officials from Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon told the outlet they will not send official delegations to the 16-day fair on the National Mall, set to open June 25. Three other states — Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington — remain uncommitted just two weeks out.
The state holdouts come days after a wave of musical acts abandoned the festival, with performers including Martina McBride and Bret Michaels saying they had been misled about the event's political ties. After the lineup collapse, Trump announced he would open the fair with "the Greatest Rally, EVER!"
NOTUS reported the fair is an example of a deeper rift between Freedom 250, the Trump-created entity producing the spectacles, and America 250, the bipartisan commission Congress created a decade ago. The Trump administration has withheld tens of millions from America 250, which now faces a $100 million shortfall, while funneling at least $68 million to Freedom 250, NOTUS found.
Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner told NOTUS, "all 50 states and U.S. territories will be represented," adding: “The idea that a president’s presence at America’s 250th birthday is somehow a political act is not a serious argument — and frankly, it is not serious journalism to treat it as one."
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey delivered a withering assessment on the spectacle.
"This guy finds a way to try to get money into his own pocket any which way," she said.
North Carolina, the only Trump-voting state skipping so far, said preparing its space would cost at least $100,000, which it doesn't have. Officials in other states cited rushed timelines and concerns about staffing 11- to 13-hour days.
"This is not the hill we want to die on," one official told NOTUS anonymously.
People walk past a sign of the UFC Freedom 250 fight card, near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump's birthday bash for America is hitting fresh trouble, with at least six states publicly saying they will not officially participate in his Great American State Fair, NOTUS reported Wednesday.
Officials from Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon told the outlet they will not send official delegations to the 16-day fair on the National Mall, set to open June 25. Three other states — Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington — remain uncommitted just two weeks out.
The state holdouts come days after a wave of musical acts abandoned the festival, with performers including Martina McBride and Bret Michaels saying they had been misled about the event's political ties. After the lineup collapse, Trump announced he would open the fair with "the Greatest Rally, EVER!"
NOTUS reported the fair is an example of a deeper rift between Freedom 250, the Trump-created entity producing the spectacles, and America 250, the bipartisan commission Congress created a decade ago. The Trump administration has withheld tens of millions from America 250, which now faces a $100 million shortfall, while funneling at least $68 million to Freedom 250, NOTUS found.
Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner told NOTUS, "all 50 states and U.S. territories will be represented," adding: “The idea that a president’s presence at America’s 250th birthday is somehow a political act is not a serious argument — and frankly, it is not serious journalism to treat it as one."
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey delivered a withering assessment on the spectacle.
"This guy finds a way to try to get money into his own pocket any which way," she said.
North Carolina, the only Trump-voting state skipping so far, said preparing its space would cost at least $100,000, which it doesn't have. Officials in other states cited rushed timelines and concerns about staffing 11- to 13-hour days.
"This is not the hill we want to die on," one official told NOTUS anonymously.
Insiders fume as Trump blows up America 250: 'Straight out of It's A Wonderful Life'
Matthew Chapman
June 11, 2026
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump looks on before boarding Air Force One en route to Florida, at Pope Army Airfield on Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Sordid new details are coming out about how President Donald Trump and his allies hijacked the bipartisan "America250" celebration approved by Congress and siphoned off its money to alternative celebration planning entities under his own control.
According to The Atlantic's Michael Scherer, newly obtained documents behind the scenes of Trump taking over the event "described frayed trust and growing conflict that has become so acrimonious that the Department of Interior is refusing to honor a December agreement with America250" to transfer $50 million in funding.
Officials in the Trump administration proclaimed they will not do so because “Spending taxpayer money on frivolous, poorly attended events and D.C. consultants who are trying to get rich off America’s 250th is the exact opposite of what was intended. This administration will not light taxpayer money on fire. Full stop,” according to the report
This has left lawmakers and event organizers in both parties frustrated, with one America250 commissioner telling Scherer, “This is straight out of It’s a Wonderful Life, when Henry Potter steals George Bailey’s money and tries to drive him to the brink."
Trump officials, for their part, see it as the president's rightful duty to put on the festivities and resent that America250 hasn't fully handed the reins to them, with longtime MAGA strategist Chris LaCivita saying the group “can’t get over the fact that Trump won.”
All of this comes amid a series of reports detailing how the events Trump is putting on are floundering — most notably, his "Freedom 250" music festival that featured a long list of performers either pulling out or clarifying they were never part of the event in the first place despite being advertised.
It also comes as Trump's prized project of hosting a UFC fight on the White House lawn is now facing litigation from veteran activists in Washington, D.C.
Matthew Chapman
June 11, 2026
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump looks on before boarding Air Force One en route to Florida, at Pope Army Airfield on Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Sordid new details are coming out about how President Donald Trump and his allies hijacked the bipartisan "America250" celebration approved by Congress and siphoned off its money to alternative celebration planning entities under his own control.
According to The Atlantic's Michael Scherer, newly obtained documents behind the scenes of Trump taking over the event "described frayed trust and growing conflict that has become so acrimonious that the Department of Interior is refusing to honor a December agreement with America250" to transfer $50 million in funding.
Officials in the Trump administration proclaimed they will not do so because “Spending taxpayer money on frivolous, poorly attended events and D.C. consultants who are trying to get rich off America’s 250th is the exact opposite of what was intended. This administration will not light taxpayer money on fire. Full stop,” according to the report
This has left lawmakers and event organizers in both parties frustrated, with one America250 commissioner telling Scherer, “This is straight out of It’s a Wonderful Life, when Henry Potter steals George Bailey’s money and tries to drive him to the brink."
Trump officials, for their part, see it as the president's rightful duty to put on the festivities and resent that America250 hasn't fully handed the reins to them, with longtime MAGA strategist Chris LaCivita saying the group “can’t get over the fact that Trump won.”
All of this comes amid a series of reports detailing how the events Trump is putting on are floundering — most notably, his "Freedom 250" music festival that featured a long list of performers either pulling out or clarifying they were never part of the event in the first place despite being advertised.
It also comes as Trump's prized project of hosting a UFC fight on the White House lawn is now facing litigation from veteran activists in Washington, D.C.
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