On June 14, when President Trump walked out to the UFC octagon cage on the South Lawn of the White House, he was met with a mix of cheers and boos. The most common word to describe the event in the media was “surreal.” A reporter for NBC News estimated that the crowd outside of the White House grounds was about 20,000, but photos appear to have had far fewer.
The event was sponsored by at least one beer company, the prediction market Polymarket, Truth Social, and cryptocurrencies, including Trump Coin. It was streamed on the platform owned by the family of Larry Ellison, a friend and mega donor for Trump. The broadcast of the fights indicated that closed captioning for the event was sponsored by “TrumpCoins.com.” Protesters gathered on nearby Constitution Ave. and near entrances. The U.S. Marine Corps Band played one of Trump’s favorite songs, the Village People’s “YMCA.” “The Claw,” a giant metal structure above the cage, was created by Stageco, a Belgian event staging company.
The UFC posted a photo of the “locker room” for the fighters, which is the historic Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, frequently used for ceremonial purposes, including swearing-ins of Supreme Court justices, cabinet officials, and formal receptions.
In attendance for the cage fights were JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Steve Witkoff, Stephen Miller, and political hacks and cronies. There were at least nine cabinet members as well as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. There was a flyover by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds during the national anthem, which was performed by the country & western group, the Zac Brown Band. Vice President JD Vance was captured on camera introducing one of Pope Leo’s brothers, Louis Prevost, and his wife, Deborah Prevost, to the president ringside. Also in the crowd was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. About 30% of the crowd were military and in uniform, who all had to pass a weight/height test.
One fight was so bloody the cageside doctor nearly stopped it, but the jaded crowd chanted “Let them fight.” One of the fighters, Josh Hokit, yelled into the microphone, “Michelle Obama is a man.” Fighters were promised bonuses for things such as “Fight of the Night,” and would be paid in the cryptocurrency USD1, which is promoted by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial. A British fighter wore a hat reading, “Donald Trump for Prime Minister.” UFC fans are mostly young, white men.
According to a Reuters-Ipsos poll, only 16% of Americans support using the White House lawn for this blood-sport cage fight. A new poll by NBC shows Trump’s approval rate among all adults to be at a new low for his second term at 39%, though Congress’s approval rating is 11%.
