It has hosted many world leaders and times in history. Now US President Donald Trump has built a huge battlefield on the White House’s South Lawn.
Cranes raised huge metal arches to set up Tuesday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on Trump’s birthday on June 14.
“We have a big war. It won’t happen again, it never has,” Trump said at an Oval Office event earlier this month, surrounded by four combatants.
Trump also showed a photo of the so-called Octagon – an eight-sided UFC ring enclosed by a chain link fence – surrounded by chairs against the backdrop of the White House.
The billionaire Republican says 4,500 people will be able to watch on the lawn itself, and up to 100,000 people can watch for free on screens outside the White House grounds.
Trump himself is a UFC fan who has attended a spate of fights, ingratiating himself with his core youth fanbase – a large demographic in the 2024 US election.
