President Donald Trump has been hit by a new lawsuit over his UFC arena being built on the White House South Lawn — and the details left a former federal prosecutor incredulous.
Joyce Vance detailed the most shocking parts in her Civil Discourse Substack.
The idea for the fight raised red flags from the start, noted Vance.
"UFC President Dana White has reliably supported Trump through his three campaigns. This is quite a reward for his dedication," she wrote.
And, although White denies this event is "transactional," he's pledging $60 million for construction and $700,000 for repairs to the White House lawn after the event — assuming those repairs even happen, since Trump has dropped hints he wants the arena to be permanent.
The new lawsuit, Vance said, offers astounding insight into just what a scheme of "corruption and kleptocracy" is on display.
"The amount of corruption alleged in this lawsuit is jaw dropping, even for Trump," she wrote on BlueSky.
For one thing, she noted, the plaintiffs point out that Trump “giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access” — all while he purchased up to $50,000 in stock in the UFC's parent company, and the UFC itself promotes a cryptocurrency firm sponsoring the event and advertising itself with White House iconography.
And as all this is going on, the plaintiffs — a Vietnam vet and a senior citizen activist — said, this whole project defaces the nation's capital. “The Claw, which is constructed primarily out of steel, is 92 feet tall, 154 feet wide, and weighs 600 tons ... The Claw thus dwarfs the adjacent White House. It is visible from the National Mall to the south," the lawsuit reads.
To do this, the suit continued, the White House and UFC are violating National Park Service regulations, ignoring congressional approval, and environmental permitting.
The complainants are asking a judge to stop the event from taking place.
"A ruling and perhaps an appeal or two could materialize quickly given the timing here," Vance concluded — but the real fireworks could start to fly if "an injunction is in place and Trump is forced to cancel or at least postpone his plans."
This comes amid other reporting that Republicans were scrambling to get the limited tickets to the UFC event, and polling indicates the demographic groups Trump was hoping to win over with the spectacle have already soured on him.
