RAM sponsors White House cage fighting
Trump buys TKO Group stock while promoting Freedom 250 event
RAM Trucks is sponsoring the White House cage fighting event.
An octagonal cage is being erected now on the South Lawn. Tourists are posting images all over social media. TV stations including NBCNews have covered in detail construction for the upcoming mixed martial arts fight night scheduled for June 14, President Trump’s 80th birthday.
“This will be the greatest show on earth,” Trump said.
He previewed the fight card by hosting Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitors Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane at the Oval Office on May 6.
The temporary arena, designed to hold more than 4,000 people, is not being built for exhibition matches. These are credentialing matches. Ringside seat sponsorship packages have been selling for $1 million and more, according to Republican lobbyists familiar with the process, NBC reported.
Event sponsors Ram Trucks and crypto.com are being promoted by the UFC this week as part of the UFC Freedom 250.
Mixed martial arts fighters are known for punching, kicking, wrestling and ground fighting. They have trained in wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu. Blood often spills.
‘Security nightmare’
Podcast host Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator, said in March that it’s “weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f-ing war.” He also said during a podcast that month, “I will be there, but I’m not thrilled about it,” calling the event “kind of a gimmick” and a potential “security nightmare,” Forbes reported Friday, May 29.
Trump has attended UFC events for years and recently became a shareholder.
Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 of TKO Group Holdings stock, the parent company of UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), on March 25, according to HuffPost.com, after reviewing his May 12 financial disclosure filing.
UFC President Dana White has credited Trump for helping jumpstart UFC's business and allowing them to run shows on his properties when nobody else would, Sports Illustrated reported Friday, May 29. “Despite the conflict of interest in this event and the TKO Group news, the White House has not publicly commented on the report.”
The UFC Freedom 250 is separate from America250, a non-profit, bipartisan group authorized by Congress to fund public events that honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Freedom 250 is an organization set up and run by Trump-aligned groups to collect millions of dollars from major companies, some of whom didn’t understand the two groups were different, the Wall Street Journal reported in April.
Stellantis cost, knowledge of situation unclear
Stellantis brands — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — are the only autos listed on the America250 corporate sponsor website.
Stellantis, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Neither a spokesperson for Stellantis who is listed as the America250 media contact nor an America250 contact responded to multiple inquiries from Shifting Gears on Friday, May 29, seeking information about the cost of sponsorship.
Stellantis couldn’t be reached to discuss details involving the cage fight, either.
Ram focused on reversing sales dip
Ram Truck sales and market share in the U.S. have dropped steadily between 2021 with 647,329 vehicles to 437,392 in 2025. First quarter sales in the U.S. in 2026 show 4% growth year over year. Dealers are offering big markdowns and incentives on Ram pickups now, according to the company website.
In addition to Stellantis brands, other America250 sponsors include: Best Western, Boeing, BP, Chick-fil-a, Cracker Barrel, Coca-Cola, Comcast NBCUniversal, CVS, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Hilton, JPMorganChase, John Deere, Kraft Heinz, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Palantir, ScottsMiracle-Gro, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Target, United Airlines, UFC, Oracle, NY Stock Exchange, and Procter & Gamble.
Olivier Francois, global chief marketing officer for Stellantis, said in a statement posted online a year ago: “America — its people, its traditions, its history — inspire everything we do, how we do it and the way we dream about our next 250 years together. Our ‘America Made Us’ will be a yearlong campaign celebrating America's 250th anniversary and the people who have made, and continue to make, our brands what they are today.”
‘What the hell is that thing?’
A sample of headlines for the UFC Freedom 250 event:
Why are people comparing White House lawn to ‘Idiocracy’ movie? (USAToday)
Tourists divided as UFC cage rises on White House Lawn (Reuters video)
What the hell is that thing? (Mother Jones photo gallery)
Dana White says it’s an ‘honor’ to build a fight arena on the White House lawn (NPR)
Bob Kolt, professor emeritus of advertising at Michigan State University, told Shifting Gears on Friday, May 29, that Ram may see cage fighting fans as a target demographic but this situation is complicated — because a lot of people aren’t happy with how the White House is being used.
“A lot of corporations are squeezed by the White House for money and sponsorship … Maybe someone buys a truck,” Kolt said. “Brands have to have a philosophy, attitude and strategy. There is a big downside risk.”
RAM did sign a sponsorship agreement last year with TKO Group Holdings that covers WWE, UFC and Professional Bull Riders, SportBusiness reported.
But that’s not all. Soldiers recruited to fill seats.
Meanwhile, internal memos show the Pentagon is recruiting active duty military service members to appear in uniform at the cage fighting event but they must meet a waist-to-height ratio and meet service-specific physical fitness requirements, The Washington Post reported Friday, May 29.
The Pentagon waist-to-height ratio standard shall be less than 0.55, measured by dividing the waist circumference by height, according to a memo released in January.
“For example, a 6-foot service member would be ineligible to attend if they have a waist larger than 39.6 inches, and a 5-foot-8-inch soldier would not be able to attend if they have a waist larger than 37.4 inches,” wrote silive.com.
Music acts cancel, then soldiers recruited
By late Friday, May 29, sports and news outlets focused on the unraveling of events misunderstood to be celebrations sponsored by the non-profit America250.
“Trump battling UFC show mess on heels of America 250 concert catastrophe,” said silive.com, the daily newspaper in Staten Island, New York.
The idea of “one birthday and two party planners” became clear when musicians canceled commitments to perform between June 25 to July 10 at Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
Country singer Martina McBride, The Commodores, Bret Michaels of Poison, Young MC, and Morris Day of Morris Day and The Time — have indicated on social media and in interviews that they didn’t understand event goals and sponsors, thinking it was America250 not Freedom 250.
“I had no clue it was considered a ‘Trump-backed’ event, so that was new to me. My whole thing was ‘tell me what the event is, what it’s about, who you are, and then give me the choice of whether I want to do the event or not,’” rapper Young MC told Rolling Stone magazine. “I was never given that choice. I was told one thing and then it was a bait-and-switch. All the comments I’ve seen from the artists that have dropped out thought it was supposed to be a regular show in D.C.”
Vanilla Ice, a vocal supporter of the president who has performed at Mar-a-Lago, has confirmed he’s honored to perform at the Freedom 250 event.
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An event designed for Trump's fanatical followers. The White House campus looks like a demolition derby site. Body specifications for military attendees speaks volumes. Thanks for information.
Thanks for listing the companies that are currently listed as sponsors for this event. I guess we can plan to see a bunch of new Dodge/Ram pickups parked on the lawn around the ring.maybe with sale prices painted on the windshields.
Also I read that soldiers recruited to come must not only meet required physical standards but also pay their own way to be there.