{"id":2043,"date":"2026-05-29T18:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2043"},"modified":"2026-05-29T18:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:08:14","slug":"pentagon-recruiting-troops-to-watch-white-house-ufc-fights-memos-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2043","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Internal messages reviewed by The Post stipulate that military personnel must pay their own way and meet strict physical requirements to be eligible. <\/strong><\/p>

Read more Adolfo Daniel Vallejo facing fine for \u201csexist remarks\u201d after French Open loss<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
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Construction crews work Thursday on a temporary arena on the White House lawn that will host a UFC fight in June. (Kylie Cooper\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The Pentagon is moving to recruit hundreds of troops to appear as spectators next month at President Donald Trump\u2019s UFC cage-fighting event on the White House lawn, and requiring those who attend to pay their own way and meet height and weight requirements, according to people familiar with the matter and internal memos reviewed by The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

The Defense Department in recent days has solicited troops across the services to attend the June 14 event. Officials are seeking junior enlisted personnel and junior officers specifically, according to internal messages that make clear travel will be \u201cmember-procured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior troops make up the military\u2019s lowest pay grades.<\/p>\n

One memo, circulated within the Air Force, stipulates that to be eligible, personnel \u201cMUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO and current physical fitness standard.\u201d Troops will be required to wear their short-sleeve dress uniforms, the memo adds.<\/p>\n

Another message posted on a social media page<\/a> popular with troops touched on similar themes, calling the effort to identify troops to attend the White House event a \u201cquick-turn tasking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTickets must be distributed to genuine UFC fans, not solely to high-ranking DVs,\u201d the message said, referring to distinguished visitors.<\/p>\n

Joel Valdez, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for the White House and the UFC did not immediately respond to questions about the effort to identify military spectators.<\/p>\n

\n
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The White House event coincides with President Donald Trump\u2019s 80th birthday and Flag Day. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The mixed-martial-arts fights, billed as UFC Freedom 250, are part of a series of events the president has planned for America\u2019s 250th-birthday celebration. The White House event coincides with Trump\u2019s 80th birthday and Flag Day.<\/p>\n

Last year, he presided over a multimillion-dollar military parade<\/a> in D.C. that coincided with his birthday and that of the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

On Friday, construction crews continued work on a temporary octagon-shaped arena<\/a> that\u2019s being built on the White House\u2019s South Lawn. Trump has said the spectacle promises to be \u201cthe greatest show on Earth.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Kuss solos to victory on Giro\u2019s brutal queen stage and Vingegaard stays in pink<\/a><\/p>\n

The UFC has long been popular with rank-and-file troops, with numerous active-duty personnel and veterans competing in its cage fights. Dana White, UFC\u2019s chief executive, has said in recent interviews that about 4,000 people will be on the South Lawn, with \u201cmost of them\u201d serving in the military. Thousands more people are expected nearby for a viewing party of the fights on the Ellipse, he said.<\/p>\n

White, speaking to Time magazine recently<\/a>, said the event will cost his company $30 million to stage and defended it as an act of patriotism.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can make anything political if you want to,\u201d White told Time. \u201cI love this country like anybody on the left loves this country. I love this country like anybody on the right loves this country. This is basically me spending a \u00ads—\u00adload of money to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, with America and the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has attended numerous UFC events in the past, and touted the White House competition in the Oval Office<\/a> a few weeks ago while flanked by UFC fighters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be the biggest event we ever had,\u201d Trump said at the time. \u201c… The White House doesn\u2019t really do athletic events for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Trump speaks about the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 event while in the Oval Office this month. (Kent Nishimura\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The event has drawn a range of reactions.<\/p>\n

Joe Rogan, a podcaster, comedian and UFC commentator who endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, has called the decision to hold the event outside \u201codd,\u201d and the event a \u201csecurity nightmare\u201d and \u201ckind of a gimmick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t think that you should compete in a world championship fight in a noncontrolled environment,\u201d Rogan said on his podcast Wednesday. \u201cI think it should be inside an air-conditioned arena \u2026 you wouldn\u2019t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump told Time magazine that he initially did not think Rogan\u2019s comments were \u201cnice\u201d but then agreed the event is a gimmick.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is a gimmick, if you think about it, right? But it\u2019s a good gimmick,\u201d Trump told Time. \u201cIt\u2019s something that will never happen again. Nobody will ever have the privilege of doing something like this in front of the White House. It\u2019s going to be very unique. It\u2019s going to be amazing. I think it\u2019s great for America, frankly.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Trump calls a Situation Room meeting to decide on extending Iran ceasefire<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Internal messages reviewed by The Post stipulate that military personnel must pay their own ways and meet strict physical requirements to be eligible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2043\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Internal messages reviewed by The Post stipulate that military personnel must pay their own ways and meet strict physical requirements to be eligible.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2043\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T18:08:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/78455204464066719593fd4ca57f6984-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T18:08:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2be5b9b99c3989b3f2825aca7cc26c43-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043\",\"name\":\"Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2be5b9b99c3989b3f2825aca7cc26c43-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T18:08:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2043#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2be5b9b99c3989b3f2825aca7cc26c43-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2be5b9b99c3989b3f2825aca7cc26c43-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Construction is underway on a temporary arena that will host the UFC Freedom 250 fight card in June on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 27, 2026. 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