People online on Friday were criticizing the UFC fight to mark Donald Trump's 80th birthday — an event that has been touted as the country's 250th birthday celebration.
The mixed martial arts event this weekend on the White House's South Lawn will be a historic first, and more than 100,000 people are expected to attend, CNN reported.
Trump has admitted that he will skip signing the Iran peace deal if it happens during his scheduled event — and that he plans to send Vice President JD Vance and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff instead.
Social media users commented on the event as U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels practiced flying over the White House on Friday.
"Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent on Trump’s birthday party," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X.
"The crowd at the White House UFC fight will be one of the most diverse ever. There will be convicted felons, rapists, pedophiles, sex traffickers, domestic abusers and insurrectionists," Covie, a political commentator with more than 177,000 followers, wrote on X.
"So...Donald Trump has summoned a flyover for his little birthday party, too. And, it's HIS birthday party. Not for the UFC. Not America. For Trump," writer and editor of Protect Democracy, Amanda Carpenter, wrote on X.
Carpenter also called out the Trump administration in a separate X post.
"Don't let anyone pretend the UFC cage match debacle on the WH lawn is about anything but a gaudy, lavish, taxpayer-funded birthday party for Trump. Let's talk about why this feels so gross, because it's about a lot more than Trump turning 80. What should be a celebration of America 250 is really a forced celebration for Trump," Carpenter said.
"Trump is calling his UFC cage match an 'event.' It’s actually a scheme: fed. property, fed. staff, & a policymaking process handed over to boost a private business," Norm Eisen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and founder of Democracy Defenders Action, wrote on X.
"Trump corruption of the day: his UFC cage fight at the White House," Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) wrote in a post on X, sharing a video describing his thoughts about the event and calling out Trump for hosting a MAGA fundraiser the day before the fight and his ties to the parent company of UFC as an investor.
"So what is the corruption? It's when a person who holds a high office — no one higher than the president — uses that office to enrich himself, to enrich his family. And that's at your expense," Welch said in the video.
So...Donald Trump has summoned a flyover for his little birthday party, too. And, it's HIS birthday party. Not for the UFC. Not America. For Trump. https://t.co/EPvrSfO9wa
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) June 12, 2026