{"id":3377,"date":"2026-06-09T20:06:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3377"},"modified":"2026-06-09T20:06:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:06:05","slug":"white-house-will-be-closed-to-reporters-during-ufc-fight-unless-ufc-lets-them-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3377","title":{"rendered":"White House will be closed to reporters during UFC fight \u2014 unless UFC lets them in"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House is ceding control of who gets into the fight event on the South Lawn, in a break with tradition.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Trump rails at Gov. Moore over pace of Jack Nicklaus golf course project<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
A student throws a football as construction continues on a temporary arena that will host a UFC fight Tuesday in Washington. (Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The White House press corps won\u2019t be allowed on White House grounds Sunday because of a UFC fight being hosted on the South Lawn, according to an email sent by the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association and obtained by The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

Weijia Jiang, the association\u2019s president, told members in an email that only the White House press poolers \u2014 the designated journalists who follow the president on behalf of various news outlets when he is in locations that cannot accommodate a larger group \u2014 will be allowed on White House grounds unless UFC gives them press credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WHCA has been pushing back on this, but we have been told there will be various Secret Service access points across campus and that the [White House North Lawn] is being used as a staging area for the fighters and UFC filming zone, and the [White House] is standing firm,\u201d Jiang wrote.<\/p>\n

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The arena for the upcoming UFC match on the South Lawn is seen from the Rose Garden on June 4. (Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

While the White House normally handles credentialing for large-scale events, it\u2019s ceding control of Sunday\u2019s bash to UFC.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, reporters won\u2019t be allowed access to the White House briefing room, their press workplaces or \u201cPebble Beach,\u201d an area on the North Lawn used for television appearances.<\/p>

Read more Real Madrid says Atletico Madrid rejected its offer of 150 million euros for Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The North Lawn press area will be closed to most reporters. (Andrew Leyden\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Jiang said in the email that UFC is permitting only a \u201cvery limited number\u201d of journalists on the South Lawn during the fight, while other credentialed journalists will have to watch from either the nearby Ellipse or the JW Marriott hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have not received a UFC press credential, you will need to utilize other public spaces in the area for any live shots,\u201d Jiang said.<\/p>\n

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. After publication, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a post on X that the press office had expanded the pool covering the event to accommodate more reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pool will be providing full coverage on the South Lawn for the duration of UFC Freedom250,\u201d Wales wrote.<\/p>\n

UFC did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The WHCA declined to comment.<\/p>

Read more In South Carolina primary, Trump\u2019s sway, Mace\u2019s future at stake. See live results.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The White House is ceding control of who gets in to the fight event on the South Lawn, in a break with tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nWhite House will be closed to reporters during UFC fight \u2014 unless UFC lets them in - 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=3377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"White House will be closed to reporters during UFC fight \u2014 unless UFC lets them in - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The White House is ceding control of who gets in to the fight event on the South Lawn, in a break with tradition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T20:06:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/83352acbbe8306ce1f9e4e256f2eb40a-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"White House will be closed to reporters during UFC fight \u2014 unless UFC lets them in\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T20:06:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/10d97a665edc1691b464420082ea0530-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377\",\"name\":\"White House will be closed to reporters during UFC fight \u2014 unless UFC lets them in - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/10d97a665edc1691b464420082ea0530-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T20:06:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=3377#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/10d97a665edc1691b464420082ea0530-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/10d97a665edc1691b464420082ea0530-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"A student throws a football, as construction continues on a temporary arena that will host the UFC Freedom 250 fight card in the background at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 9, 2026. 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