White House sources confirm that President Trump is leaning towards keeping the temporary UFC octagon structure near the Washington Monument, a steel-and-glass edifice he compared to the Eiffel Tower. The decision comes amid blistering criticism from British architects who label the design a monument to bad taste.
“He wants it as a permanent fixture,” a senior administration official told me. “Something about fighting spirit and American greatness.” The structure, originally erected for a UFC fight weekend, stands 50 metres tall. Its intended removal date was last Sunday.
Documents obtained by this newsroom show Trump personally intervened to halt dismantling. A memo from the Department of the Interior flags “presidential interest in preserving the facility for national events”. Local zoning laws? Waived. Environmental impact? Ignored.
The reaction from London’s architectural elite has been scathing. Sir Norman Foster, in a statement released this morning, called it “a grotesque intrusion on the capital’s skyline”. Another Royal Institute of British Architects fellow, who asked not to be named, said the structure “looks like the set of a dystopian game show”.
But taste is not the issue here. The money is. The UFC, owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, has deep ties to Trump. Endeavor executives donated more than $500,000 to his re-election campaign. The structure itself was built by a company with past federal contracts totalling $12 million. Sources inside the White House budget office tell me they have been asked to find “creative funding” for permanent installation.
“It’s a monument to cronyism,” said a former ethics adviser to the Trump administration. “You can trace every bolt back to a donor.”
Trump himself dismissed the criticism with characteristic bluster. On Twitter, he wrote: “The British architects think they know taste? They gave us Prince Charles. The UFC Tower is a thing of beauty. Many people are saying it.”
Washington residents are divided. Some see it as a jobs creator. Others, a vanity project. “It’s like having a giant fist in the middle of the Mall,” said a local historian. “But then, maybe that’s the point.”
A final decision is expected within ten days. The structure remains, for now, casting a shadow over the nation’s monument to liberty. Follow the money. The bodies will show up soon enough.
