The Iowa speech came the same day the House gave final approval to Trump’s legislative package of tax reductions and Medicaid cuts.
Trump: White House will host UFC fight for America’s 250th birthday
President Donald Trump announced the White House plans to host a UFC fight for America’s 250th birthday next year.
- Trump proposed to host a UFC championship fight at the White House to honor national parks during the year leading up to the country’s 250th anniversary.
- In an Iowa speech, Trump also proposed to allow farmers to vouch for longtime migrant workers to prevent their removal under his stricter immigration enforcement policies.
- Trump also said he would sign his legislative package of tax reductions and Medicaid cuts with a patriotic ceremony with military jets flying overhead.
President Donald Trump told an Iowa crowd he would sign the megabill legislative package in a patriotic ceremony on July 4 and focus resources on national parks − as well as holding an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the White House – as he embarks on a yearlong celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just a few hours ago, when Congress passed the one big beautiful bill to make America great again,” Trump told a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines for a “Salute to America Celebration.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters after the speech that Trump is “dead serious” about hosting the mixed martial arts fight.
Trump said he would sign the bill at the White House joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana; Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota; and many congressional Republicans. Trump said military pilots who successfully bombed Iran will be guests for a flyover of military planes during the patriotic ceremony.
“We’re going to have B-2s and F-22s and F-35s flying right over the White House,” Trump told reporters before flying to Iowa. “We’ll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads.”
Trump promises immigration enforcement fix for farmers
One of Trump’s top priorities is to improve border security and deport immigrants who are in the country unlawfully. But after hearing concerns that farmers were losing migrant workers they depend on, Trump outlined how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was developing legislation to effectively allow farmers to vouch for their workers to allow them to stay.
Trump said similar lenience would be extended to hotel and leisure industries.
“We don’t want to take all of the workers off the farms,” Trump said. “We’ve got to work with the farmers.”
“We’re going to put you in charge,” Trump told the crowd.
Series of state fairs will begin in Iowa: Trump
Trump ‒ who has long embraced patriotic themes and imagery to complement his “America first” agenda ‒ already had a controversial taxpayer-funded military parade on the streets of Washington, D.C. The parade June 14 marked the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and fell on Trump’s 79th birthday.
In Iowa, Trump unveiled efforts to create the “Great American State Fair,” a concept he touted on the 2024 campaign trail as a “unique, one-year exhibition featuring pavilions from all 50 states.” He said events during the next year at fairgrounds nationwide would culminate on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“We will be orchestrating what we’re calling the great American state fair and it will start right here in Iowa,” Trump said to cheers. “We’re going to have a big crowd.”
Trump says he’ll host UFC fight at the White House
To boost national parks, Trump proposed to raise the entrance fees for foreigners as part of his “America first” strategy.
“Every one of our national park battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of America 250,” Trump said. “And I even think we’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight on the grounds of the White House.”
“Championship fight − full fight,” he added.
Trump, no stranger to the mixed martial arts scene, has attended multiple events in the past, including UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden after winning the 2024 presidential election. UFC President Dana White also introduced Trump on the stage on the final night of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The first UFC fight held under the ownership of White and his partners was held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Trump “gave us our start when nobody would talk to us,” White told Fox News in 2018.
Trump’s White House staff has ties to the mixed martial arts organization. After his campaign win in November 2024, Trump named Steven Cheung, a former UFC spokesperson, as the White House communications director.
Known as an aggressive communications director for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, Cheung worked as the rapid response director for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was perhaps the most acerbic of the candidate’s spokespersons, describing opponents and “snowflakes” and “cucks” who suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Voluntary conservation efforts
Trump signed an executive order on the flight to Iowa creating a Make America Beautiful Again Commission to overcome what he called “years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach and neglect of routine maintenance” at the National Park Service and the Forest Service.
The commission is to include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency and Office of Management and Budget and others.
Trump seeks to expand access to public lands and recover fish and wildlife populations through voluntary conservation efforts.
“Land-use restrictions have stripped hunters, fishers, hikers, and outdoorsmen of access to public lands that belong to them,” the order said.
The National Park Service has $23 billion in deferred maintenance on roads, trails, and historic landmarks, the order said. The Forest Service has $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance, the order said.
Contributing: David Jackson, Joey Garrison, George Fabe Russell, James Powel, and James H. Williams, USA TODAY
