President Donald Trump is set to celebrate his 80th birthday Sunday night with an unprecedented Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight on the White House South Lawn, and “for once, [he] is hoping for calm” as a “risk of thunderstorms” threatens to disrupt the event, The Hill reported Sunday.
“Organizers say they can cope with heavy rain, even if they have to pause the fights briefly. Lightning poses a graver risk,” wrote The Hill’s Niall Stanage in the outlet’s report.
“A White House official said ‘standard contingency plans for weather are in place to ensure the safety of the President and all patrons.’ For once, Trump will be hoping for calm.”
The New York Times recently spoke with meteorologist Jared Guyer who told the outlet that a “fairly potent” weather system was likely to pass over the Northeast, “especially going through Sunday afternoon and evening,” with Trump’s UFC fight scheduled for 7 p.m.
The weather forecast for Sunday night in Washington, D.C. may also produce a swarm of gnats at the event, with high humidity and temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit by 5 p.m., wrote journalist David Shuster.
The White House UFC fight also poses another risk, The Hill reported: that it could “backfire politically” given the optics of the $60 million arena – paid for by UFC’s parent company – amid rising costs sparked by Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.
“The optics are terrible, and it looks completely tone-deaf to the struggles of the American people,” said Todd Belt, political science professor at George Washington University, speaking with The Hill.