Trump Suggests White House Octagon Could Become Permanent

Donald Trump has floated the idea that the octagon and stage structure being constructed on the White House South Lawn for UFC Freedom 250 might never come down, drawing a comparison to one of the world's most recognisable landmarks and suggesting the installation could become a permanent tourist attraction.

"Many don't know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889, it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the World's Fair. And then they said, 'you know, we sort of like it. Let's leave it up a little bit longer.'

“And then they said, 'let's leave it up longer and longer and longer.' Well, they never took it down. And, you know, we're building something in front of the White House that's quite attractive to a lot of people. It's going to have the big UFC fight on June 14 and I'm looking at it and maybe we'll never, ever take it down," Trump said

The UFC has confirmed the event is entirely privately funded, with the promotion covering all production and staging expenses independently at a reported cost of $60 million.

The scale of the build — significant enough to prompt a presidential comparison to the Eiffel Tower — reflects the ambition behind an event that Trump has consistently described as potentially the most watched sporting occasion in history.

Whether the octagon becomes a permanent South Lawn fixture is a suggestion that will generate its own commentary well beyond the sport. For now it sits alongside Trump's other Freedom 250 predictions — highest-rated sporting event ever, something that will never be replicated — as a statement of enthusiasm rather than a confirmed plan.