US President Donald Trump suggested this week that a large mixed martial arts arena being built on the White House South Lawn may never be taken down, drawing a comparison to the Eiffel Tower in Paris that historians would find imprecise. In a video posted to his official TikTok account on Wednesday, Trump said: "Maybe we'll never ever take it down," echoing the story of how Paris's most iconic landmark outlasted its original purpose.
The arena is being constructed for "UFC FREEDOM 250," a major mixed martial arts event scheduled for June 14 — Trump's 80th birthday — which will also mark the United States' 250th anniversary. The open-air metal structure, described as larger than the White House itself, has been taking shape on the South Lawn for about a week. Trump, who has a longstanding friendship with UFC chief executive Dana White and has regularly attended UFC events in recent years, appears personally invested in the occasion.
In making his case for keeping the structure, Trump offered his own retelling of Eiffel Tower history. The tower was indeed built as a temporary installation for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, but Trump's claim that it was meant to be dismantled "immediately after" is not quite accurate. Under the original agreement, the structure had a 20-year permit to remain standing. It was ultimately kept permanently due to its practical value — particularly for scientific experiments and radio telegraphy — rather than simply because Parisians grew fond of it.
Whether Trump's remarks about a permanent UFC arena reflect a genuine intention or are designed to provoke reaction online — a well-documented strategy of his administration — remains unclear. Social media users responded sharply, with critics accusing him of damaging a historically significant site. Some pointed out the apparent contradiction with an executive order Trump himself signed last year, titled "Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again," which was intended to protect the classical aesthetic of federal buildings.
The UFC cage is not the only recent alteration to the White House under Trump. He has also pursued a controversial 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition, renovations to the Rose Garden lawn, and a widely noted "gildification" of the Oval Office interior. Together, these projects signal a broader ambition to put a visible personal stamp on one of the world's most recognisable official residences — changes that have drawn both admiration and fierce criticism from the American public.