Trump's grand sporting season begins with UFC fights on White House lawn

President Donald Trump’s run of high-profile sporting events begins this week in Washington, with the U.S. leader eager to project an image of strength at home and abroad.

At Trump’s behest, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will stage a slate of mixed martial arts bouts on the White House lawn on Sunday. The event coincides with Flag Day, a little-observed holiday celebrating the adoption of the U.S.’s stars and stripes, and Trump’s 80th birthday.

He also persuaded IndyCar to hold a Grand Prix race around the National Mall in Washington, D.C. later in the summer. And the FIFA World Cup, which was awarded to the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2018 during Trump’s first presidency, started this week.

“We’re going to showcase our country that whole weekend because of the surroundings that we have,” said Bud Denker, chair of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix and president of Penske Corp. “I really think it excites him (Trump) that it provides this positivity to our country when we need it.”

U.S. officials hope to use the momentum from these events to promote the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles — and elevate the president’s geopolitical brand.

Congress established a nonpartisan commission to plan events around the country’s 250th anniversary, but the Trump administration created its own group, Freedom 250, which has scheduled events including the UFC fights and auto race.

Global leaders have taken notice of Trump’s interest in sports. In December 2025, FIFA President Gianni Infantino awarded Trump its inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. The following month, Trump ordered a military mission in Venezuela to depose its leader, Nicolás Maduro, followed several weeks later by strikes on Iran.

Almost immediately after the UFC’s mixed martial arts fights, Trump is scheduled to visit France for a meeting of G7 leaders. French officials delayed the start of the gathering to avoid a conflict with the UFC event, local media reported.

Trump has called the UFC fights “the greatest show on Earth” and likened the UFC’s “Claw” arena looming over the White House’s South Lawn to Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

Some critics accuse the president of “sportswashing,” or using athletic events to bolster his image amid concerns over human rights issues, immigration enforcement and foreign conflicts.

“We tend to talk about sportswashing when we talk about dictators or oil-rich countries,” said Nick Watanabe, who studies sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. “It definitely applies to the United States.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the UFC’s growth