A federal judge on Friday declined to block the White House from holding cage fights on the South Lawn on President Trump’s birthday, just days before the Sunday event was set to take place.
Responding to a last-ditch emergency motion, Judge Amit P. Mehta wrote that it was not clear that the two individuals who sued over the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches would be sufficiently harmed by the one-off event to give them legal standing to challenge it.
The two claimants had argued that the use of the White House and Lincoln Memorial as a backdrop for fights could provide an inappropriate financial benefit to the private company that arranged it. But Judge Mehta wrote that they failed to detail how their interests outweighed those of everyone involved in bringing the project to fruition.
The organizers, Judge Mehta wrote, “point to the near yearlong planning of the event; coordination with multiple government agencies, including the Secret Service; site work that began May 20 and has involved between 700 to 900 workers; multiple equipment deliveries; event ticketing logistics; and preparations of the contracted U.F.C. fighters.”
“And then there is the $60 million that the U.F.C. and U.F.C.-affiliated organizations have expended to put on the event,” he continued. “The potential loss of those dollars resulting from a last-minute, court-ordered stoppage cannot be ignored.”
The lawsuit before Judge Mehta was brought by a political organizer and an Air Force veteran from Virginia. Susan Douglas and Paul Romano argued that the event co-opted some of the capital’s most recognizable sites to stage a commercial event benefiting private interests. In court filings, lawyers representing the pair described the event as a corrupt bargain designed to provide Dana White, the U.F.C. president and a close ally of the president’s, a national platform from the seat of American government to promote his brand.
Mr. Trump has been a supporter of Mr. White and his company for decades. Mr. Trump also holds stock in U.F.C.’s parent company, TKO Holdings, according to his financial disclosures. He has regularly attended fights while campaigning. Plans to host a fight on the White House grounds emerged last year.
That plan has come to pass with the construction of a 92-foot steel lighting grid that the White House has referred to as “the claw” soaring above the Executive Mansion on the South Lawn. The lawsuit cites a video Mr. Trump posted on social media in June in which he likened the structure to the Eiffel Tower and mused that it might remain as a permanent installation after the event.
The Justice Department described the fight as just one part of programming for the 250th anniversary of American independence, which includes fireworks shows, a state fair and an Indy car race on the National Mall.
In a filing this week, the Justice Department argued that the lawsuit was filed late, just one week before the fight was scheduled to take place. Government lawyers added that work on the arena cost “well over $60 million” and required “tens of thousands of hours of labor” and that guests from far outside the capital had booked travel to attend.
“All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else,” the government wrote.
The government added that past presidents have also set up temporary structures on the South Lawn for more minor sporting events. The brief cited an annual Little League tee ball match organized by former President George W. Bush and an ice-skating rink that was installed under former President Joseph R. Biden, which the Justice Department said was supported by the National Hockey League and Comcast.
www.nytimes.com