Trump Administration Asks Judge To Reject Lawsuit Seeking To Block UFC At White House, Says Plaintiffs “Want To Spoil The Event For Everyone Else”

The Trump administration asked a judge to reject an effort to block plans for Sunday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House, saying that government regulations were followed and that it fell under an exclusion from environmental guidelines.

After noting that more than $60 million has been spent and more than 120,000 visitors are expected, both on White House grounds and the Ellipse, attorneys for the Justice Department wrote,
“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.”

Over the weekend, two residents of Virginia sued the National Park Service, characterizing the event as “deeply corrupt.”

“The President is giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access,” the plaintiffs, Susan Douglas and Paul Romano, said in their lawsuit.

They also challenged the authorization of the event, claiming that it was not a genuine celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, and not exempt from typical rules that prohibit special events on the South Lawn or the Lincoln Memorial, where a weigh-in is planned for Friday.

In their response, the DOJ attorneys wrote that “with respect to the events on the South Lawn, the NPS permit regulations are beside the point. The White House is sponsoring and hosting this event, and the White House does not need a permit from NPS to host events on White House grounds. Indeed, the purpose of the NPS permitting regulations is to ensure content-neutral treatment of events in designated public forums, but the South Lawn is not a public forum and is beyond the scope of those regulations.”

The Trump administration also contended that the National Park Service “regularly permits” demonstrations and special events at the Lincoln Memorial.

The DOJ also challenged the standing of the plaintiffs, writing, “It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend. Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America. And they have chosen to do so only after Defendants and many third parties—the White House, the UFC, and ticketholders—have expended enormous time and vast resources for events starting in just days. A more starkly mismatched balance of harms would be difficult to conceive.”

The DOJ attorneys also wrote that the National Park Service applied an exclusion to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines for the event, contending that it fell within a category that does not have “significant effects on the environment.” They also argued that the massive structure built on the lawn for the fight — known as “the claw” — does not require congressional approval because it is temporary.

The plaintiffs have until Wednesday evening to reply.