Donald Trump gifted gold chain by MMA fighter during White House UFC birthday extravaganza as Melania, Ivanka and star-studded crowd watch on

Donald Trump is getting his long-awaited birthday wish on Sunday with UFC Freedom 250, where the President was also gifted a gold chain by victorious fighter Josh Hokit. 

Wearing an American flag bandana, the undefeated heavyweight exited the octagon to present Trump with a glimmering necklace just moments after knocking out Derrick Lewis. The gracious Trump promptly put the Mr. T-style chain around his neck amid cheers from the 4,000 attendees on the White House‘s South Lawn. 

Although the event was named in honor of the country’s upcoming 250th birthday, Sunday was also aimed at celebrating Trump as he turned 80.  

The newest octogenarian was greeted by a chorus of trumpets as he sauntered in from the White House alongside promoter Dana White before the Zac Brown Band’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. A 12-jet flyover followed as AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ blared over loudspeakers – a somewhat ironic decision as the event was delayed by thunderstorm forecasts in the area. 

But the weather couldn’t stop Trump’s inner circle from gathering cageside.

First Lady Melania Trump was escorted to her seat by a uniformed servicemember and she was later joined by 20-year-old son Barron in a rare public appearance for the President’s youngest child. 

Many top officials made grade entrances, including secretaries Scott Bessent (Treasury), Pete Hegseth (Defense) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Health and Human Services) and Howard Lutnick (Commerce), House Speaker Mike Johnson and FBI director Kash Patel, who brought his country singer girlfriend Alexis Wilkins. 

Vice President JD Vance was also spotted in the crowd, while homeland security advisor Stephen Miller was joined by his wife, Katie, just 11 days after she gave birth to the couple’s fourth child.

Other Trump supporters in attendance included billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, NHL stars Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and influencer Logan Paul, as well as a number of high-ranking UFC champions. 

And as is usually the case whenever Trump attends UFC events, there was plenty of family on hand, including daughter Ivanka, her brothers Donald Jr. and Eric, as well as their wives, Bettina and Lara, and granddaughter Kai. 

But there were also some surprise guests as well, including Poland’s right-wing President Karol Nawrocki and British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury, who was wearing a ‘Trump for Prime Minister’ hat. 

‘It’s been a long time, but boy oh boy am I happy to be here for this historic event. Freedom, at the White House, and it’s Donald Trump’s birthday,’ Fury told Paramount+ announcer Jon Anik. 

Hundreds of uniformed servicemembers from various branches of the armed forces could be seen during the Paramount+ broadcast, which was used to promote a number of charities benefitting veterans and 9/11 heroes. 

Military members chanted ‘USA’ as American Bo Nickal beat countryman Kyle Daukaus while a smiling Trump applauded cageside.

‘I gotta thank President Trump for making this happen,’ Nickal said in his post-fight interview, adding that Trump is a ‘special person’ to ‘have the balls to do something like this.’

Nickal then posed on stage as the Marine Corps band played YMCA, the Village People anthem that has been adopted by Trump supporters.

Thousands of fight fans and many protestors descended on Washington, where officials ultimately gave their green light to proceed despite reports of lightning and thunder in the area.

The White House has been particularly sensitive about the subject of a weather delay. Earlier on Sunday, when the Weather Channel reported ‘Rain, 30mph winds and mosquitos on the White House lawn,’ a furious administration spokesperson shot back on X.

‘This event is about celebrating America’s unmatched greatness after 250 years — which apparently doesn’t sit well with the friendless loser who wrote this bulls*** clickbait headline,’ read the post from the White House’s @RapidResponse47 account.

Fortunately for attendees, the threatening storms held off, allowing the fight card to get underway shortly after the original scheduled 8pm start.  

Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia opened UFC Freedom 250 in a featherweight bout under the structure known as the Claw, a four-sided mass that arcs more than 90 feet (27 meters) into the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wiring and four large screens so fans not seated right next to the Octagon can follow the cage fighting below.

Garcia walked out of the White House draped in an American flag and accompanied by two police officers. Lopes walked out to the Mexican song ‘La Chona.’

Fans were as quiet for the start of the main card Sunday as they might be for the preliminary fights held hours before a pay-per-view event in a normal fight arena, such as Madison Square Garden. Closer to the Rose Garden, fans did come alive when Lopes landed a flurry of punches to knock out Garcia in the second round.

The show has been steeped in pageantry and stands as an outlier among UFC events. Meanwhile, UFC’s ring girls, who normally parade around the cage in skimpy outfits, were covered up for a more PG-rated fight night. The women were stylishly dressed in more full-body outfits, some that flowed past the knee or to the ground, that incorporated the American flag into the designs.

Sunday’s event became even more memorable after Brazilian Mauricio Ruffy beat American Michale Chandler in the third bout. Through a translator, Ruffy directed a marriage proposal towards his girlfriend watching in the crowd, prompting her to respond with a thumbs up gesture. 

Wearing a full suit and tie despite the heat and humidity, Trump spent most of his time sitting stoned-faced, watching the action through wire-mesh cage. During another break in Sunday’s action, Zuckerberg approached Trump and spoke with him for several minutes.

Later, when American Sean O’Malley fought Canadian Aiemann Zahabi, Trump donned a white USA hat. After Zahabi won, he shook Trump’s hand and saluted the President. A short time later, as midnight approached, a fighter jet boomed over the octagon once again.

Much of the interest around the event has centered on the outdoor setup – something White has traditionally resisted due to concerns about weather and bugs.  

Eric shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the distinct setting for Sunday night’s fight festivities. 

From the roof of the White House, the 42-year-old showed aerial view of the newly constructed arena underneath ‘The Claw.’

To the side, cranes loomed over the White House as part of the construction for the new East Wing ballroom. 

Meanwhile, outside the White House, angry protestors have been targeting Trump over his immigration policy, allegations of corruption, and the war with Iran, which the President once again claimed to have ended earlier Sunday. 

‘Congratulations to all!’ he wrote on social media, without providing details about the deal to open the Strait of Hormuz. He added, ‘Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!’ 

The protestors aren’t the only unwelcome guests the event.  

MMA fighter Sean Strickland was escorted out of a UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest by police after his mocking comments about Trump and deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. 

Strickland claimed earlier this month that he had been banned over his comments about Trump’s connections to the convicted sex offender and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

However, the former UFC champion defied that ban on Sunday when he attended the Fan Fest at the nearby Ellipse in Washington DC. 

His shock appearance received a frosty reception from the MAGA-loyal MMA fans in attendance who stormed towards the ring where he stood, immediately jeering and booing. 

Strickland was then kicked out of the event, escorted away by officers to chants of ‘USA’ from the crowd. 

Strickland was wearing a black anorak jacket and was barefoot. It wasn’t immediately clear why law enforcement led him away.

White has rejected Strickland’s accusation that he was banned from UFC Freedom 250 events.

‘Nobody is banned. Nothing is banned,’ White told reporters earlier this month.

The bout represents another in the long history between White and Trump, who began hosting the MMA promotion’s events at the since-shuttered Trump Taj Mahal back in 2001.

Since then, White has introduced Trump at three separate Republican National Conventions and was even present at the recent White House Correspondents’ Association dinner that was interrupted by an attempted assassin.

Many UFC fighters have professed their love and admiration for Trump, including Jon Jones, Colby Covington, Conor McGregor and Gaethje. 

Trump has sought to tie Sunday’s event to larger, monthslong celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

But it is much more geared toward feting himself, so much so that the G7 summit for leaders of industrialized nations pushed back their get-together so that the President could attend his cage-match party and then fly to Europe for the meetings.

The weekend hasn’t been all smiles for Trump, meanwhile. Crews pried the his name off the Kennedy Center about a mile from Trump’s birthday bash after a judge ruled naming it after Trump had gone too far.

It’s certainly a departure from President Joe Biden’s 80th birthday in 2022, when he celebrated with a private family brunch at the White House, laying bare just how much and how quickly things have changed.

Asked about the contrast, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said that the fight event ‘will be one of the most entertaining nights in American history’ and said that the timing was appropriate.

‘Having this spectacle take place at the people’s house on Flag Day during our nations’ semiquincentennial anniversary is a fitting tribute,’ Schuster said in a statement.

Trump has now supplanted Biden as the oldest person to be elected US president. He’s constitutionally barred from running again, yet constantly toys with the notion publicly. That’s despite polls showing rising public skepticism about Trump’s mental and physical health – recalling concerns Biden faced as he turned 80.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of US adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

The White House countered with a lengthy statement from Trump’s former White House physician, Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, saying Trump’s ‘stamina, focus, and strength are exceptional and on display every day. Claims to the contrary are pure fiction.’ Jackson added that polling concerns were ‘being propagated by the same biased, liberal, Trump-hating press that completely ignored the absolute cognitive and physical disaster that was President Biden.’

The UFC is an apt metaphor for Trump’s pugilistic political style. He is as big a fan of cage-match-style politics as he is of cage-fighting itself.

But Trump has also long been a master of political misdirection, purposely presenting people with something other than his presidency to focus on when things aren’t going well.

With the war in Iran grinding on before Sunday’s announcement – even during weeks of assurances from Trump that its end is nigh – gas prices skyrocketed . Renewed concerns about inflation and plummeting job approval ratings for Trump helped ensure that a White House birthday party unlike anything America has ever seen can certainly qualify as a diversion.

‘This is all distraction,’ said Mike Fontaine, a classics professor at Cornell University, who likened it to the gladiatorial games of Imperial Rome, when combatants brutalized each other for public entertainment meant to bolster rulers’ popularity and quell potential unrest.

‘This is a classic strategy,’ Fontaine said. ‘In ancient Rome, the phrase would be, `bread and circuses.’