Donald Trump says construction for the UFC Freedom 250 arena at the White House will begin next week, with the event scheduled for June 14 in Washington.
The UFC’s official event page lists UFC Freedom 250 for Sunday, June 14, 2026, at The White House. The prelims are scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on Paramount+, with the main card set for 8 p.m. ET.
Trump told reporters Friday that the temporary setup will include seating on White House grounds and additional viewing at the Ellipse across the street.
“We’re going to have some of the greatest champions in the world,” Trump said. “The arena, they’re going to start building it over the next week. It’s right here, and it will be about 5,000 seats. They’ll have 100,000 people down by the Ellipse, with screens. And it’s all free. It’s going to be great.”
The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and serves as the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Trump is the 47th U.S. president after previously serving as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
The UFC event on the White House South Lawn is 45 days away, and President Trump says crews are “going to start building” a roughly 5,000-person arena “over the next week.”
“They’ll have 100,000 people down by the Ellipse with screens, and it’s all free,” he says. “It’s going to… pic.twitter.com/i980Mz2SZW
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 1, 2026
UFC Freedom 250 Card Is Already Listed
The UFC page lists Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje as the lightweight title bout. It also lists Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.
Other listed matchups include Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis, Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler, Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus, and Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia.
The event is tied to the America 250 celebration, which marks 250 years of United States independence. Trump’s update gives a construction timeline for the White House setup, with the arena build expected to begin roughly six weeks before fight night.
