Trump suggests UFC arena at White House could become permanent fixture

U.S. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of keeping a temporary arena, constructed on the White House South Lawn for a UFC event, as a permanent installation.

During a video uploaded to TikTok, Trump drew a parallel between the UFC structure and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He noted that the Eiffel Tower was initially intended to be temporary after the 1889 World's Fair but was eventually kept. "It's quite attractive," Trump remarked, adding, "Maybe we'll never ever take it down."

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People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the World’s Fair, and then they said, ‘You know we sort of like it, let’s leave it up a little bit longer, and then they said, ‘Let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer.’

The arena is being built for the UFC Freedom 250 fight card in June, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence and President Trump's 80th birthday. It remains unclear whether Trump's comments were a serious consideration or a jest, given his reputation for unconventional approaches to White House norms.

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It's quite attractive. Maybe we'll never ever take it down.

Meanwhile, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland took to social media to claim he was removed from the event. Strickland alleged, without providing evidence, that he received a call from UFC officials stating he was not "Israeli enough" to attend the event, which he sarcastically referred to as the "Israel edition." He suggested his criticisms of Israel and U.S. involvement in the conflict with Iran led to his exclusion.

Workers are currently preparing the temporary arena on the South Lawn for the June fight event.

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Well, you guys, I'm not surprised, but I got the call. UFC higher-ups called me, big names, and they said, 'Sean, I've got to apologize. You're not Israeli enough to go to UFC 250, Israel edition.'