Washington — For the first time in U.S. history, the White House will host United Fighting Championship bouts on Sunday, marking the nation’s 250th anniversary and coinciding with President Trump’s 80th birthday.
Mixed martial arts fighters will square off on the White House South Lawn for UFC Freedom 250, culminating in a main card fight between Georgian-Spanish Ilia Topuria and American Justin Gaethje for the undisputed UFC lightweight championship. The main card is set for 8 p.m. ET and will be streamed on Paramount+, which is owned by Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News. Earlier fights begin at 5 p.m. ET.
The president and other top officials are expected to attend the fight. The South Lawn is expected to be filled with 5,000 guests, including members of the military. Fans will be able to watch from the nearby Ellipse. UFC also has a map of bars showing the fights.
Mr. Trump has sought to bring the fights to his presidential turf for almost a year, and UFC executive Dana White is a longtime friend of the president. The UFC event is just the first of a number of events marking the country’s 250th birthday. The Great American State Fair and the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., are other events on tap this summer from Freedom 250, a Trump-aligned organization planning events for the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The view of the White House from nearby streets has been altered by the setup of star-spangled rigging, which towers at over 92 feet and encloses a UFC Octagon. Mr. Trump told reporters the rigging — known as the “Claw” — will come down after the fight.
Two Virginians sued over the planned fights, arguing UFC had been unlawfully granted “unfettered access to the White House … to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.”
A judge on Friday declined to block the event after the president’s Justice Department, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the helm, defended the administration’s plans, asserting that the plaintiffs filed their case too late and couldn’t prove harm.
“It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend,” the Justice Department said in a filing. “Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America.”
The president invited some of the fighters to the White House last month.
The main card event promises to be an interesting fight. Topuria, or “El Matador,” is undefeated at 17-0, and Gaethje, known as “The Highlight,” is considered the underdog.
“First of all, it’s not gonna be the biggest in UFC history; I think it’s gonna be one of the biggest events in sports history, one of the more memorable ones,” Topuria said, according to UFC. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime, very unique event, and being able to be part of an event like this — especially headlining an event like this —is something I feel very grateful about. I’m very excited for what’s coming.”
But an undisputed UFC title would be a first for Gaethje, who is eager for the challenge.
The two have had a personal scuffle online, after Gaethje made comments about his opponent’s ex-wife.
“All that guy is, is a gimmick,” Gaethje told Fox Sports Australia. “He calls himself the king. He thinks he’s a God. … I couldn’t imagine being in a room with him for 30 minutes listening to him talk about himself … And I can say this: I would leave him. That’s all I’m saying. I would leave him.”
Topuria said: “Justin crossed a line.”
“What happened between my ex-wife and me is our business,” Topuria wrote on X. “We may no longer be together, but she is the mother of my daughter.”
Gaethje said he was “joking.” A reporter asked Gaethje in a press conference if he feels like he’s made Topuria overly emotional with some of his comments.
“I hope so. I hope so,” Gaethje responded. “I hope he’s going to come out very aggressive.”
Gaethje didn’t want to preview his approach for the fight.
“Everything is misdirection,” he said. “I’m never going to show my cards before the fight.”
The full list of fights:

For almost a month, Off Campus sat atop Prime Video’s charts, cementing its place as one of the platform’s most-watched releases of the year after having the third-best debut on the platform. Its reign may have remained uninterrupted had it not been for a new release that has broken Off Campus’ streak brutally, almost as soon as it dropped on the streaming platform: Every Year After.
Starring Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett, Every Year After was released on June 10, with all eight episodes dropping binge-model-style on the platform, just like Off Campus. In the three days since its launch, the romantic drama has climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Top 10 TV Shows and Top 10 Overall in the United States, while Off Campus has slipped to No. 2 on both charts. The new series is also the No. 1 show globally.
With both shows being of the romance genre, it is clear that Prime Video’s “Obsession Is In Session” initiative, which specifically pushes young adult and romantic stories, is doing what it set out to do.
What Is Every Year After About?
Every Year After is the latest in a growing wave of romance novel adaptations to hit streaming, based on the bestselling book of the same name by Carley Fortune.
The story follows Percy Fraser and Sam Florek, who reunite in the picturesque Barry’s Bay a decade after a mysterious betrayal had torpedoed their teenage friends-to-lovers romance. The show flashes back to Percy’s time at the lake, where she first met Sam, who became her first love. Alongside bonfires with her friend Delilah, she spent her summers working at a local restaurant, interspersed with stolen kisses and memories that are as painful as they are nostalgic.
Alongside Percy and Sam’s second chance romance, Every Year After also fleshes out supporting characters across eight episodes, including Percy’s best friends Chantal and Delilah, and Sam’s older brother Charlie. The series is based on a novel that became a major bestseller, with over a million copies sold worldwide. The dreamy setting, the chemistry, and the curated soundtrack have drawn comparisons to Prime Video’s first YA romance hit, The Summer I Turned Pretty.
The Rise of Book-to-Screen Adaptations
Every Year After’s instant success is not an isolated one. It follows a trend that has been building for years — book adaptations, particularly in the romance genre and fueled by BookTok, have become some of the most reliable hits on streaming. Platforms like Prime Video have learned that these adaptations arrive with a built-in audience that has spent years investing emotionally in the characters, which is built from scratch for original shows.
These niche novels are accelerated by social media and genuine, organic interest by readers, who then turn into reliable viewers of the show. Heated Rivalry, based on the blockbuster books by Rachel Reid, remains a phenomenon since its late 2025 release, and Off Campus capitalized on the sports romance craze by building a heterosexual romance that had hints of Rivalry in it.
Now, Every Year After has outpaced the success of Off Campus, too, which suggests that the book-to-screen adaptation isn’t a fleeting trend, but one of the most successful formulae that streamers can use to capture huge new audiences, but only if they’re done well. Unlike Off Campus, though, which instantly took the world by storm and became the latest pop culture phenomenon, Every Year After received more middling reviews, holding a 70% approval from critics and 52% from the audience, who lamented the big changes from the book.
Every Year After is available to stream on Prime Video.

The UFC White House event has little choice but to adapt to the weather
Dana White has continued to stand firm, but the UFC’s White House event may have no choice but to make adjustments.
He dismissed concerns during fight week, even stating that the Freedom 250 event would go ahead despite lightning.
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However, as White said in April when discussing the UFC’s preparations, they would have no choice but to wait this one out.
It’s fight day, and it seems like one of those issues is already going to come into play later today, with rain currently forecast for parts of Washington DC at that time.
UFC Freedom 250 faces a severe weather threat, as a thunderstorm warning has been issued
A high probability of thunderstorms has been a worry for UFC Freedom 250 ever since early forecasts began to circulate about a week before the event.
The UFC does have backup plans in place for situations like this, so they’ll be prepared to adjust if needed.
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On the day of the event, AccuWeather is calling for “a heavy thunderstorm late this afternoon; storms can bring flash flooding and damaging winds.”
They also expect those conditions to stick around into the evening, along with the humidity that Sean O’Malley has already mentioned he’s not looking forward to dealing with.
Earlier in the week, Dana White explained that the UFC’s approach to lightning would mirror standard practice across sports: pause and resume once conditions are safe.
“Whenever there was lightning, you’d sit the lightning out, and then when it was over, you played,” he said. “That’s what we’ll do.”
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The forecast suggesting thunderstorms could persist into the night might complicate those plans. With an 8 pm local start time, moving up the schedule could be one way to get ahead of any delays.
The BBC’s hour-by-hour outlook for Washington DC on June 14 shows a shift from heavy rain showers to thundery showers between 8 and 9 pm. While most of the day is expected to stay dry, steady thundery showers are likely after 9 pm.
Read more:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump turned 80 on Sunday and was set to celebrate with one of the more surreal spectacles both in sports and even in the nation’s capital: cage fighting on the White House lawn.
Against the backdrop of a 3-month-old war with Iran that’s been broadly unpopular with Americans and has rattled global oil markets and with inflation spiked to the highest level since April 2023, the White House — long known as the people’s house and a symbol of American democracy — opened its backyard Sunday night to stage a bruising UFC card on the South Lawn.
More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into building the arena, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Lawn.
UFC is staging seven fights with all male fighters under the Freedom 250 banner to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.
The fight card headlined by two title fights on Paramount+ is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern.
It’s the pinnacle of the relationship between UFC CEO Dana White and Trump that has yielded personal, political and financial dividends for both parties in a relationship that goes back 25 years. White’s first card as UFC president came in 2001 at an event held at Trump Taj Mahal.
Trump has attended four UFC cards as sitting president, walking to the cage amid rock music and patriotic chants from fans much like the fighters themselves. White introduced Trump at two Republican National Conventions. White also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April that was cut short by a shooting.
In a card that has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, Alex Pereira of Brazil will meet Ciryl Gane of France for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria then takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.
There are five other fights on the main card that include former title-fight participants Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis and former 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley.
White said the show will go on rain or shine. Strong thunderstorms and heavy lightning disrupted Friday’s Lincoln Memorial promotional event, and the forecast for Sunday evening also looks threatening.
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The cameras were rolling, the NBA Finals MVP trophy was in his hands and, here, finally, the world would get to hear what Jalen Brunson thinks. Even in a fishbowl like New York, Brunson has managed to maintain an air of mystery. Some of it is intentional. In interviews Brunson chooses his words carefully, revealing little. “Methodical and intentional,” is how Brunson’s mother, Sandra, once described her son’s Belichickian approach to interviews. Some of it is not.
In the final seconds of the Eastern Conference finals–clinching win in Cleveland, cameras panned to a Knicks roster in full celebration … with an expressionless Brunson planted on the bench behind them. “I was icing my knees,” explained Brunson. “I didn’t even want to get up.” Yet here, in the aftermath of New York’s 94–40 title-clinching win, after delivering a 45-point masterpiece, at the end of the Knicks’ 53-year championship drought, Brunson would finally open up. “I got no words,” he said. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”
Some of the greatest athletes in sports history have worn New York uniforms. Names like Namath, Messier and Jeter. Taylor, Frazier and Rivera. Now, Brunson. Only three players—Bob Pettit, Michael Jordan and Giannis Antetokounmpo—had scored 45 points or more in a Finals closeout game. Brunson made it four. He kept New York in it in the first half, scoring 16 of the Knicks’ 37 points. He had 14 points in the third quarter. He had 15 in the fourth. San Antonio threw everything at Brunson. Size, length, athleticism. Nothing worked. “Unreal,” said Mitchell Robinson. “Literally, unreal.”
No one, even the truest of Brunson believers, would have told you this was possible in 2022, when the Knicks poached Brunson from Dallas. The four-year, $104 million deal Brunson signed was looked at skeptically. Surely the Knicks overpaid for a 6’2″ guard who still struggled with shot creation. Leon Rose, the Knicks team president, had a long history with Brunson. As an agent Rose represented Brunson’s father, Rick. Rose had known Jalen since he was a toddler. That relationship had to cloud his decision.
Only it didn’t. Brunson averaged 24.0 points in his first season in New York. He was an All-Star in his second. He was the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year last season and has earned a spot on an All-NBA team in each of the last three. He steered the Knicks to the second round of the playoffs in his first two seasons and a conference finals in the last one.
And now … this. Brunson averaged 32.6 points in the Finals. He shot 38.9% from three. He scored at least 12 points in the fourth quarter of three of the five games in the series and on Saturday put on a performance that will be remembered for a generation. At his postgame news conference, coach Mike Brown summed up Brunson succinctly. Said Brown, “He is him.”
Brown can remember when he noticed Brunson. Like, exactly. In 2022, Brown was an assistant coach in Golden State. In the conference finals, the Warriors played Dallas. As defensive coordinator, Brown was responsible for scheming ways to slow the Mavericks’ offense. Luka Dončić was Dallas’s top offensive option. “But my concern wasn’t Luka,” said Brown. “My concern was Jalen.”
Brown recalls the frustration at being unable to slow Brunson down. “I remember [the] first couple times we played against them, we put a guard on him,” said Brown. “I was amazed. Because when you look at him, you’re like, O.K., he’s not the biggest guy, not the most athletic guy, not the quickest guy. O.K., you can put a guy 6’4″, 6’5″ guy on him, you’ll be O.K.
“We put guys 6’6″, 6’7″ on him. He got to his spot methodically. He put his back shoulder in them, he still scored. We put Draymond Green on Jalen. That’s how concerned we were. Because we needed a bigger, stronger, tougher guy to try to do it or to try to slow him down at that time.”
In New York, Brunson’s teammates marvel at his ability to create his shot. Karl-Anthony Towns cites his footwork, an ability that falls somewhere between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mikhail Baryshnikov. That footwork, Towns says, enables Brunson to effortlessly maneuver between spots in the paint.
Said Towns, “Then when he finally gets into the paint he uses physicality to create space, to get his floater off or to get to a scoop layup.”
OG Anunoby points to the deep bag of shots Brunson can go to. “He uses a lot of counters,” said Anunoby. “He’s relentless. Doesn’t matter if he is missing shots or making shots, he’s always the same way, always composed and poised and always aggressive.”
To Brown, the player he saw in 2022 has continued to evolve. “Now it’s different,” said Brown. “If you put a power forward on him, he’s in a ball screen, out in transition, he can score from all three levels. He does it with a patience that you embrace as a coach because it’s not hurried and frantic all the time. It always seems like he’s in control, which helps you as a coach be in control, which helps his teammates be in control.”
To Brunson, it simply comes down to the work. When the buzzer sounded on Saturday, Brunson shook hands with Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. When he turned around, Rick was there waiting. Brunson routinely shrugs off questions about pressure. This wasn’t pressure. Playing for eight NBA teams in nine seasons, as Rick did, that was pressure. Short-term contracts, non-guaranteed contracts, never knowing if you would stick for more than a year. He watched his dad doing three-a-days in the summers, trying to squeeze just a little bit more out of his career.
“I’m very fortunate to be in the position I am, and I definitely think I worked pretty hard,” said Brunson. “And so when the opportunity presented itself like it did today, I just trust my work. And if we win, we win. If we don’t, we learn, we move forward. But I’m just never afraid to fail.”
And he didn’t. It’s rarified air Brunson entered on Saturday. The greatest Knick of all time? He’s in the conversation. The greatest small guard in NBA history? He joins a very short list. Most unlikely superstar? Let the debate rage.
Not that Brunson is interested in it. As he wrapped up his news conference, Brunson was asked about his journey, from second-round pick to sixth man, from starter to superstar, and what it all means. It was another opportunity for Brunson to open up.
“It hasn’t sunk in but I honestly,” Brunson said, his voice trailing off. “I honestly don’t know right now. I don’t know.”
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