Construction continues on the South Lawn of the White House for an upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match scheduled for June 14 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump purchased stock in the company that will receive a fortune in publicity thanks to his decision to promote the event on the White House South Lawn next month.
Stock Purchase Details
Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC, on March 25, according to a HuffPost review of his May 12 financial disclosure filing. The president's investment raises serious ethical questions about the use of the White House for personal financial gain.
Ethics Experts React
"Grifting has always been an issue in Donald Trump's presidency, but now the mask is off," said Jordan Libowitz with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Using the White House to promote a company whose stock you bought while promoting it is one of the worst conflicts of interest you could imagine. The agenda of this administration seems to start and stop with how to make Donald Trump richer."
The White House did not immediately respond to a HuffPost query about his purchase of the stock. Libowitz further emphasized the severity of the situation, stating that such conduct undermines public trust in government institutions.
Promotion of UFC Event
Trump first announced last summer that he would host UFC bouts at the White House and has been heavily promoting the plan ever since. On May 6, he had UFC fighters visit him in the Oval Office, where he showed off AI-generated images of the "octagon" on the South Lawn surrounded by thousands of spectators beneath a massive support structure for lighting.
"We're going to have 4,000 seats right in front of the front door of the White House. The hardest ticket I've ever had, too," Trump said then. "This will be the greatest show on Earth."
Event Details
Construction began earlier this week on the support structure ahead of the fights scheduled for June 14, the president's birthday. Trump has touted the show as part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence, though he has a business and political relationship with UFC leader Dana White that stretches back decades.
Broader Pattern of Conflicts
Trump has been actively buying and selling millions of dollars in stock in companies that he has promoted or which his administration has helped with favorable regulatory and contracting decisions. White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have previously said that Trump personally does not decide what stocks to buy and sell, and those decisions are handled by his financial advisers.
Trump, nonetheless, has used the presidency to promote his personal business interests and enrich himself more than any president in modern times, possibly in American history. The UFC event is just the latest example of potential conflicts of interest that critics say blur the line between public service and private profit.
