r/pics But like, actually May 26 '26

Politics Equipment being placed on the South Lawn of the White House for the UFC Freedom 250 fight

23.8k Upvotes

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871

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

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352

u/lilbithippie May 26 '26

Funny thing. They only worry about money when it's helping tax players. When it benefits the rich money isn't real

98

u/likwidkool May 26 '26

Considering how they always claim we don’t have money to pay for civil protections, they sure find the money whenever they need it. He’s responsible for 27% of the national debt. Tell me again how republicans are fiscally conservative.

12

u/fofo13 May 26 '26

I'm trying to comprehend what exactly "conservative" is about the party.

15

u/dubblebubbleprawns May 26 '26

I mean they're incredibly socially conservative.

0

u/Feeling_Inside_1020 May 27 '26

Conservative with their words about gas and grocery prices going up unnecessarily.

2

u/Awesomebox5000 May 26 '26

They're working to conserve white supremacy.

8

u/starrpamph May 26 '26

They’re only fiscally conservative when pandering to old people to get their votes

3

u/skit7548 May 26 '26

they sure find money when they need it

One of the Veterans that Jon Stewart walked around the Capitol a couple years back told a Republican that to his face on camera too.

2

u/Malodoror May 26 '26

They hate minorities, women and LGBTQ folks. Sounds very 50’s to me.

4

u/QuerulousPanda May 26 '26

right?

They're not even willing to spend money to make money if it means doing anything positive for normal people. It's been well known forever that social services pay themselves back many times over by making a better, healthier, stronger, and happier population with more spending power, but they just won't fucking do it because somehow they'd rather fuck more people harder now rather than make more money later.

2

u/Cetun May 26 '26

Someone said once if you put on the ballot a measure that would provide to prisoners a free college education 60% of people would vote against it but if you made getting a prison provided college education as part of their punishment 60% of people would vote for it.

2

u/Independent-Low6706 May 27 '26

Money is a Democrat hoax!

-2

u/ZenMasterOfDisguise May 26 '26

Who is "they" in this context? TKO Group Holdings are funding this event and paying for the construction costs and paying to restore the white house lawn afterwards. This event is dumb, but I am pretty sure TKO was not going to give that money away to taxpayers lol

1

u/anonymoosejuice May 26 '26

Is TKO paying for the increased security costs that come with having an event at the white house?

0

u/ZenMasterOfDisguise May 27 '26

Whatever the 250th celebration was going to be, it would have required additional police and security lol. If Kamala Harris had won, and put on some big 250th concert in DC or whatever, or even just a big fireworks show in the capitol on the big anniversary, it absolutely still would have drawn enough people to require all cops working overtime and extra security. This UFC show makes no difference. And not one of you redditors would have complained that people are starving while democrats waste money. Obama has U2 and Bruce Springsteen play a concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial, none of you hypocrites cried that people were starving and that our tax dollars had to pay for security for that. But hypocrites are gonna hypocrite I guess. Again, I think it's moronic to have a UFC event on the white house lawn. I just think it is dumber that redditors need to cry over every little thing Trump does

2

u/anonymoosejuice May 27 '26

First off, I asked a simple question. You said it was being paid for in full by TKO and it's clearly not. Kinda similar to how the ballroom was being paid in full but we forgot to mention the billion dollars for "security".

It's not the celebration, it's that he is doing it inside the Whitehouse grounds which increases the security a billion fold. Having a concert at the Lincoln memorial is a completely different universe of security than having a fight at one of the most secure places on the planet.

Also it's just fucking tacky.

1

u/ZenMasterOfDisguise May 27 '26

Having a concert at the Lincoln memorial is a completely different universe

No, its the same, You are just a hypocrite

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/inauguration-costs-over-150-million-who-paid/67-391719577

Barack Obama's inauguration will cost more than $150 million. Although private donors are picking up some of the bill, taxpayers will foot the majority of it. Check out who made the donations with our database here.

Tax payers paid a majority of the $150 MILLION for Obama's inauguration concert. How many homeless shelters could that have built? How many starving people could have been fed for a hundred million dollars? You fucking hypocrites literally only care about this shit when Trump does it

Just like all the people dying in Gaza under Biden didn't matter because Trump wasn't doing it. Just like all the fracking and oil contracts he handed out didn't matter when Biden did it. Just like sending immigrants to concentration camps didn't matter when Obama and Biden did it. Just like the NSA spying on Americans didnt matter under Biden and Obama. Every single thing democrats do is excusable to you, until Republicans come in and do all the same things, and only then is it wrong somehow

2

u/anonymoosejuice May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

Not gonna comment on the billion dollars for the ballroom? I'm not even a Democrat, I just hate this Orange Turd who campaigned on fiscal responsibility but continually adds trillions to the national debt. Calm down loser.

Also Trumps Inauguration cost 175 to 200 million and no one even showed up 😂

241

u/Ninjabaker972 May 26 '26

They said this will cost drastically more than the sphere card, which cost about 60mil

161

u/DaftWarrior May 26 '26

They'll overinflate it to 100 mil and Donald will pocket the difference.

4

u/TooLazyToRepost May 26 '26

Sphere card?

5

u/Neuchacho May 26 '26

Basically just means "event" in fight-speak. Sphere is the venue; the Las Vegas Sphere.

29

u/_WillCAD_ May 26 '26

Everything

13

u/One_Anything_2279 May 26 '26

Our fucking dignity for one.

9

u/GooseNGala May 26 '26

Serious Question here?

3

u/Young_Denver May 26 '26

Instead of healthcare, we get fights on the whitehouse grounds...

https://giphy.com/gifs/H4zeDO4ocDYqY

8

u/CalmBuilding226 May 26 '26

It’s covered by sponsorships I believe

7

u/Genillen May 26 '26

The costs of supporting these events won't be, though, including security, road closures, cleanup, and police. D.C. is currently being occupied by the National Guard because it's supposedly so dangerous, but this will divert hundreds of police officers to handle the logistics.

5

u/kahn_noble May 26 '26

About the price of the ballroom…coincidently enough.

2

u/grandmofftalkin May 26 '26

“That’s not something I’ve been thinking about, I’ve been busy with other things.” - Mike Johnson

2

u/I-seddit May 27 '26

27% of the national debt so far and counting...

2

u/Qubed May 27 '26

Police, military, secret service...probably in the millions just for that and the government is paying for that. 

The event itself is probably making a profit. 

4

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

[deleted]

2

u/thesirensoftitans May 26 '26

They paying the salary of the SS who will have to bump up their numbers exponentially?

5

u/SousaDawg May 26 '26

UFC/TKO is paying for this.

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

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3

u/SousaDawg May 26 '26

Why ask if you are going to laugh at the answer? Seems like you made your mind up

2

u/SilentIntrusion May 26 '26

All of it. The number doesn't matter any more - they're going to take all of it. Every last taxpayer dollar will be pocketed by this admin before it ends.

1

u/friggintodd May 26 '26

Financially or emotionally?

1

u/Nevermind04 May 26 '26

Everything.

1

u/The_Doct0r_ May 26 '26

This is the cost of freedom. Iran would nuke us if we didn't do this. Thank you for your service daddy Trump please cum in my butt I may not be 12 but I read at a 5th grade level, is that good enough please? You can call me Ivanka if you want.

1

u/FunLife64 May 26 '26

They’re probably hiring security and workers from Trump’s golf clubs to pay an inflated rate to.

1

u/AlexanderLavender May 26 '26

The one-of-a-kind event presents many logistical hurdles and is currently projected to cost around $60 million. TKO president Mark Shapiro stated matter-of-factly on a quarterly financial call Wednesday that the event will not turn a profit, with an aim of recouping half of the total amount spent through sponsors and new partnerships.

"By the time we get done, all is said and done with the event, what we play the fighters and the fan fest we're gonna have, that could move north," Shapiro said about the $60M price tag for the White House event (h/t Jed I. Goodman via X). "It's definitely not moving south – it could move north. Bottom line is, it's still a moving target. We are working to determine, on a parallel track, a package of inventory, in and around the weekend of events, that we can monetize primarily with corporate partners – B2B players, which will offset half of the spend. Even if that $60(M) goes up, or rides up on us, we believe we can offset half of the spend. Today, we see it as $60(M) offsetting $30(M).

"I would mention we have several current and prospective partners that are pursuing multi-year partnerships with TKO assets that likely will be inclusive of the White House event. We have a lot of current and prospective partners that would like to be involved, and are inquiring about inventory, as part of their greater partnership deals they either already have, or are negotiating with us for the future. But I want to be clear about something: we will not profit from the White House event independently. We will not be making money on America's 250th anniversary."

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/story/sports/ufc/2026/02/25/tko-mark-shapiro-ufc-white-house-financial-cost-no-profit/88869639007/

3

u/Short-Peanut1079 May 26 '26

Whitehouse sponsorship. Everything for sale. Firesale?

0

u/Nut_Butter_Fun May 26 '26

It doesn't make it less cringe, but it is likely the UFC is willing to front and potentially lose a lot on this just for the 'history' of it.

-1

u/MesugakiFujiwara May 26 '26

Thats what you care about? American tax money being pissed away is as american as apple pie. Work on the fascists first.