Financial disclosures reveal the president holds shares in TKO Group Holdings even as he uses the White House to amplify the company’s biggest event of the year
Robert Crawley | May 29, 2026
On June 14, the South Lawn of the White House will be transformed into a combat sports arena. Thousands of seats are being erected in front of one of the most recognisable buildings on earth. A steel support structure for lighting is already rising from the grounds. The event, branded “Freedom 250” in honour of the nation’s 250th anniversary and timed to coincide with President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, will host a full UFC fight card. What was not widely known until this week is that the president has a financial stake in the company putting it on.
Financial disclosure records filed on May 12 and reviewed by HuffPost reveal that Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, on March 25. By that point, Trump had already been publicly and enthusiastically promoting the White House fight for months. The disclosure landed like a grenade into an already contentious story, drawing immediate accusations of a brazen conflict of interest from ethics watchdogs, legal scholars, and opposition lawmakers.
Trump’s involvement in building hype for the event has gone well beyond a formal announcement. On May 6, he invited UFC fighters to the Oval Office, where he displayed AI-generated renderings of a packed octagon on the South Lawn. “We’re going to have 4,000 seats right in front of the front door of the White House,” he told reporters. “The hardest ticket I’ve ever had, too. This will be the greatest show on Earth.”
The president’s relationship with UFC CEO Dana White stretches back decades, predating his political career. White was a prominent supporter during both Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns, and the two men have maintained a close public alliance. Supporters of the event argue it is a legitimate celebration of American sport and national pride. TKO executives have insisted the company does not expect to profit directly from the event and may in fact absorb losses of around $30 million against production costs estimated at $60 million. The real currency, critics say, is publicity, and that is something a sitting president is uniquely positioned to provide.
Ethics experts have been unsparing in their assessment. Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the situation represents one of the most stark conflicts of interest imaginable. “Using the White House to promote a company whose stock you bought while promoting it is one of the worst conflicts of interest you could imagine,” he said. “The agenda of this administration seems to start and stop with how to make Donald Trump richer.”
Norm Eisen, who served as a senior ethics lawyer in the Obama White House, framed the issue in blunter terms. “This extravagant waste of money and government time serves not only to distract from the real work of government but now may result in a pecuniary benefit to the president,” he said. “That is a far uglier White House spectacle than anything that the UFC will exhibit.”
The White House did not respond to questions about the stock purchase. Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials have previously maintained that Trump’s investment decisions are handled by financial advisers and that the president is not personally directing individual stock trades. Whether that separation is sufficient to insulate Trump from ethical liability is a question that legal experts are now actively debating.
This is not the first time questions of this kind have been raised during Trump’s second term. He has been an active buyer and seller of stocks in companies that have subsequently benefited from presidential promotion or favourable regulatory treatment by his administration. The UFC investment is notable, however, for the sheer visibility of the arrangement. There is no subtlety here: the president bought shares in a company, ordered construction crews onto the White House lawn on that company’s behalf, and has personally served as its most prominent public advocate.
As construction crews continue their work on the South Lawn and June 14 approaches, the spectacle of a UFC octagon rising beside the Rose Garden is striking enough on its own. The revelation that the man hosting the fight also holds a financial interest in the organisation running it adds a dimension that no amount of birthday bunting is likely to obscure.
