Trump administration urges judge to reject bid to block White House UFC event

President Donald Trump's administration asked a judge on Tuesday to reject an effort to halt an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn this weekend, arguing that the event was lawful and the challengers had waited too long to sue.

Two Washington-area residents have asked U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta for a temporary restraining order to stop the June 14 UFC match. They contend that sporting events are barred on the White House's South Lawn and the large metal arena being constructed for the fight lacks required approval from Congress.

The Trump administration also said in a court filing that the plaintiffs had not shown they are likely to succeed in their claims as they had not shown how they would be harmed.

"It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend," the filing said. "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."

Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250” and coinciding with Trump’s 80th birthday, plans to hold bouts inside a 92-foot-tall (28-meter-tall) octagon-shaped structure with weigh-ins at the Lincoln Memorial.

The lawsuit alleges the National Park Service and Interior Department unlawfully approved the event and seeks to set that authorization aside.

"This nation's public monuments should not be loaned out for private exploitation," it said.

The administration countered that the regulations do not bar events and that the White House South Lawn has a history of hosting public events.

Trump's ties with UFC date back to the early 2000s, when he agreed to host events at his since-bankrupt Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. UFC Chief Executive Dana White is a close Trump ally.

-Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Edwina Gibbs/Reuters