Melania Trump to attend White House UFC fight on South Lawn
melania trump will join President Trump at the UFC fight on the South Lawn on Sunday night, adding the first lady to a guest list built around the president’s family and senior White House aides. The event falls on Trump’s 80th birthday and is set to draw 5,000 guests onto the South Lawn.
About 85,000 more people will watch the bouts on large screens on the National Mall’s Ellipse. The evening centers on a seven-bout card that includes a lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.
Trump family at ringside
Several of the president’s adult children are also due to attend. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will be ringside, along with Eric and Lara Trump. Don Jr. and Bettina Trump will make their first official appearance as a married couple at the event.
Karoline Leavitt will attend as well and is returning to the White House for the occasion with her husband, Nicholas Riccio. Leavitt is on maternity leave after the birth of her second child, making the Sunday appearance a public return during that leave.
White House grounds prepared
The fight is taking over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a way that uses several parts of the campus at once. The South Lawn will host the fight itself and the 5,000 guests, while the North Lawn will serve as the staging area for fighters.
Rows of bleachers are being built around the octagon for special guests of the president and members of the military. The White House columns at the North entrance are receiving a fresh coat of white paint, new plants are being installed on the lawn, and a massive fight ring has been built on the South Lawn with an overhead lighting system known as the claw.
Craig Borsari on approvals
Craig Borsari said the scale of the project was enormous. He also named the Secret Service, White House operations, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service and the Pentagon as groups involved in vetting the event.
“In order to get a project approved, there’s so many groups you need to go through and vet,” Borsari said. Fighters will be escorted around the campus by Secret Service and UFC personnel, and some may walk to the Octagon from the Oval Office.
Most fighters will prepare in makeshift locker rooms in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, including rooms such as the Indian Treaty Room. Weigh-ins will happen in public at the Lincoln Memorial, which is closed off to the public while temporary staging is being erected.
