WWE interested in staging event on White House lawn following UFC triumph

Following the success of the UFC’s Freedom 250 event earlier in June, the WWE is reportedly interested in holding a similar event on the White House’s South Lawn.

Held on June 14, UFC Freedom 250 featured a flyover from the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, fireworks, as well as seven fights, all of which ended in knockouts or technical knockouts. In the feature fight, American Justin Gaethje defeated Georgian-Spanish fighter Ilia Topuria for the lightweight championship. 

Following the successful event, wrestling news outlet WrestleVotes reported that the WWE was reportedly looking into ways to conduct an event at the White House. The outlet later learned that a White House show for the WWE "isn’t in the cards," however, "it’s something WWE would be open to if the financials made sense." 

TKO Group Holdings is the parent company of both the WWE and UFC. Newsweek reported that the WWE "is no stranger to outdoor events," and has previously held wrestling events at military bases and on an aircraft carrier for US troops. 

Trump has a longstanding history with the WWE, including being inducted into the Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. The WWE said that Trump "had been making a consistent impact on WWE since the days when Andre the Giant was still king." WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V were hosted at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and has remained a frequent attendee of events. 

In 2007, Vince McMahon challenged Trump to a "Battle of the Billionaires" at Wrestlemania 23, with the loser being required to shave their head. Trump’s fighter, Bobby Lashley, ultimately defeated McMahon’s fighter, Umaga, and McMahon’s head was shaved by Trump.