What was billed as a star-studded 80th birthday bash for President Donald Trump shaped up to be a family gathering after a string of high-profile celebrities turned down invitations to the June 14, 2026, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at 8 p.m. on the White House South Lawn.
Sources close to the family revealed to the New York Post on June 10 that the ringside seats for UFC Freedom 250, which also commemorates America’s 250th anniversary, were occupied largely by Trump relatives instead of Hollywood A-listers. First Lady Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée Bettina Anderson Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, and Eric Trump and Lara Trump all attended the $60 million cage fight.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio also joined the family gathering, according to the report. The Daily Beast called the guest list a humiliation for Trump, noting the stark absence of celebrity power.
In the end, the event also drew Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, comedians Tony Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis, and UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan. Several ringside seats appeared empty by fight time, while The Ellipse was far from capacity.
UFC President Dana White had issued invitations to an impressive array of celebrities, including former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, actor and wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actors Adam Sandler, Jared Leto, and Jason Statham, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, and Access Hollywood host Mario Lopez, The Independent reported on May 27.
A source close to Johnson confirmed to the publication on June 6, 2026, that the wrestler-turned-actor would skip the event. Sandler, Leto, and even Lopez—who has publicly identified as a conservative—have also declined to attend.
Jon Favreau, director of The Mandalorian and Grogu and a longtime UFC fan, did not return a request for comment when speculation arose that he had received an invitation. The remaining celebrity invitees had not responded to multiple requests for comment from Vanity Fair.
Many of the invited celebrities are known UFC aficionados. Brady has discussed his favorite fighters in interviews, while Leto has shared posts about upcoming bouts on social media. In a 2011 interview, Statham said he had always been a fan of the sport, calling UFC fighters the ultimate athletes and true gladiators.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the event on June 10 when asked about the celebrity exodus, saying it would rank among history’s most significant sporting occasions and that hosting it at the White House demonstrates the president’s commitment to honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Seven UFC bouts took place in an octagon under towering lighting rigs erected on the South Lawn. Approximately 4,300 seats were positioned around the octagon, with at least 1,200 reserved for active-duty service members.
White and TKO Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel, who oversees the UFC’s parent company, each had 200 tickets to distribute. Trump controlled 1,000 tickets for the invite-only event.
The president stepped out of the White House to a scene ringed by Cabinet members, senior administration aides, GOP lawmakers, and more than 4,000 fans shouting themselves hoarse inside a temporary arena beneath The Claw, a spaceship-like metal arch outfitted with lights and sound systems.
Trump showed off nighttime renderings of the octagon adorned with stars-and-stripes decor. All seats were invite-only, with members of the public able to apply for free tickets to watch from the Ellipse, the park adjacent to the White House.
The celebrity snubs came on the heels of another high-profile booking disaster for the Trump administration. After most of the concert lineup backed out of the Great American State Fair scheduled for June 24 on the National Mall, Trump announced on May 30 that he would host a rally instead, making himself the main attraction.
Performers such as pop duo Milli Vanilli, Poison frontman Bret Michaels, and country singer Martina McBride withdrew in late May 2026 after learning the event was partisan rather than nonpartisan as initially described. Trump responded by insulting the performers on Truth Social on June 11, writing that he didn’t want singers with no talent but big fees to put people to sleep, and that he had told them all to stay home.
Trump’s hand-picked replacement performers for the rally include country singer Lee Greenwood, whose signature hit “God Bless the U.S.A.” was released in 1984, and opera performer Christopher Macchio, who currently has a limited following on streaming platforms.
Trump’s most recent appearance at a sporting event didn’t go much better than his celebrity recruitment efforts. When he attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 8, he was roundly booed by the crowd. He was also caught apparently napping during the Knicks’ loss to the Spurs.
When former President Joe Biden marked his 80th birthday in November 2022, he did so with a private family brunch at the White House, underscoring how swiftly and dramatically circumstances have shifted.
Despite the setbacks ahead of the event, the White House delivered on its promise of spectacle.
UFC Freedom 250 went ahead as planned on June 14, with all seven bouts ending inside the distance. In the main event, American Justin Gaethje was crowned the new lightweight champion after dethroning defending champion Ilia Topuria, whose corner stopped the fight after the fourth round due to injuries. UFC commentator Joe Rogan called it “one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.” In the co-main event, French heavyweight Ciryl Gane knocked out former two-division champion Alex Pereira in the second round to win the interim heavyweight title. Trump called the event “beyond anything anybody’s ever seen in sports” in a Truth Social post early on June 15.
The night was not without controversy. After winning his heavyweight fight against fellow heavyweight Derrick Lewis on June 14, 2026, heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit used his post-fight interview on the Paramount+ livestream — conducted by Joe Rogan — to shout a false and offensive remark about former first lady Michelle Obama, drawing cheers from the crowd. Dana White condemned the comment, telling Time magazine in a text message: “I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families” and calling the remarks “nonsense.” The White House declined to address the incident directly, with White House communications director Steven Cheung saying only that Hokit “had a great win last night.”