US President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of keeping the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) arena, which is being constructed at the White House, after the fights as a permanent installation in a video uploaded to TikTok on Tuesday.
The president compared the structure, which is being built for a night of cage fighting to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence — on Trump’s 80th birthday — to France’s Eiffel Tower.
“People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the World’s Fair, and then they said, ‘You know we sort of like it, let’s leave it up a little bit longer, and then they said, ‘Let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer,” he said.
“It’s quite attractive,” Trump added. “Maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”
It is unclear whether Trump, who has gained a reputation for breaking White House norms, was teasing a plan that’s under consideration or simply joking on the short video platform, which is popular among younger people.
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland took to social media on Wednesday to claim that he had been removed from the UFC’s planned event at the White House celebrating the United States’ 250th Independence Day, sarcastically suggesting it was because he was not “Israeli enough.”
Strickland alleged that his criticism of Israel and US involvement in the conflict with Iran led to his exclusion from the event, though he provided no evidence to support the claim.
Responding to fans who asked why he would not be attending, Strickland posted a video in which he mocked the alleged decision.
“Well, you guys, I’m not surprised, but I got the call,” Strickland said. “UFC higher-ups called me, big names, and they said, ‘Sean, I’ve got to apologize. You’re not Israeli enough to go to UFC 250, Israel edition.’”
Reuters and Walla contributed to this report.
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