Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 match pushed back as storms threaten president’s birthday event

President Donald Trump’s highly publicised birthday celebration and UFC Freedom 250 match hit an unexpected snag on Sunday evening, with the famed MMA tournament on the White House lawn facing delays over inclement weather.

Trump, who turns 80 on Sunday, was hoping that the collaboration with UFC would be the jewel in the crown of his birthday celebrations, while also celebrating 250 years of American independence.

However, with a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of Washington and the surrounding states until 11 p.m. local time, UFC bosses have made the difficult decision to postpone the start of the event by an hour, to allow for the worst of the forecast to pass.

The fights will now kick off at 9 p.m. local time, an hour later than expected, due to weather concerns, according to NBC News.

According to the National Weather Service, near-biblical weather is to be expected, with isolated hail showers with hail the size of ping-pong balls and wind gusts up to 70mph entirely possible during the stormy conditions.

Frequent lightning showers are also possible, with the scale of the thunderstorm warning spanning not only the District of Columbia, but Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia too.

In total, the forecast is thought to affect around 12.8million people, and could pose a serious risk to the size of the crowd who make it out for Trump’s celebration.

However, earlier on Sunday, the White House Rapid Response team declared that the celebrations would continue ‘rain or shine’, with no plans in place to cancel the event even despite the forecast of torrential downpours.

More than 4000 people are due to attend the event this evening, while a further 120,000 spectators are expected to attend a watch party at the Ellipse, a 52-acre park just south of the White House.

So far, the weather doesn’t appear to have scared off the crowds, with many attendees still willing to brave the elements in honour of the historic occasion.

While the event has only been delayed for the time being, if lightning strikes within eight miles of the White House’s South Lawn, it will trigger an “automatic 30-minute freeze” on tonight’s event, according to The Weather Channel.

The most bizarre quotes from Trump's second term

'I love inflation'

When speaking at the White House in June, the president told reporters: "You know what I really love? I love the inflation.”

For context, the US’ current inflation rate sits at a hefty 4%, the highest rate since April 2023.

War crimes don't count if the enemy has done bad things too

When asked by a reporter at Easter how it isn't a war crime to strike Iran's bridges and power plants, Trump responded: "Because they killed 45,000 people in the last month. They kill protesters. They are animals, and we have to stop them."

Describing the Iran ceasefire as 'shooting in a moderate manner'

In a June 2026 press conference, Trump said when being questioned on the shaky ceasefire with Iran: “It's a different part of the world, you know. I'd say in that part a ceasefire is when you're shooting in a more moderate manner.”

A bombshell Pearl Harbor joke

In a March 2026 press briefing with Japanese prime minster Sanae Takaichi, Trump made a joke about the 1941 attack on the US.

A Japanese journalist asked Trump about why the US didn't inform its allies about its plans to attack Iran, to which he responded by saying that the US 'went in very hard' and 'didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise'.

He then said: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?”

While this comment drew polite laughter from US officials in the meeting, the room was then plunged into silence at Trump's next remark, in which he said to Sanae: "Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?"

He won't deport Prince Harry because 'he has enough problems with Meghan'

In early 2025, Trump was asked during an interview with the New York Post if he had plans to kick Prince Harry out of the US amid ongoing questions about his immigration status.

"I don’t want to do that. I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife," he said. "She’s terrible."

Saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy was 'all dressed up' in military attire

Ahead of a 2025 meeting in the Oval Office, the Ukrainian president wore a black, long-sleeved polo shirt featuring the Ukrainian trident - after which he'd vowed not to wear a suit until Russia's invasion of his country would come to an end.

Trump jokily said as he greeted Zelenskyy: "Oh look, you’re all dressed up."

Saying Denmark doesn't have a right to Greenland - despite it belonging to them

When the US was involved in that dispute over Greenland, as Trump wanted the land to be America’s, he claimed that Denmark didn't have the 'right' to the country.

Well, it's clear Trump didn't realize that Greenland is a self-governing, autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, and has been part of Denmark for 600 years.

Saying the Biden administration spent $8 million making mice transgender

During his address to Congress in March 2025, Trump accused the Biden administration of spending $8 million on 'transgender mice' experiments.

PBS later fact-checked this and concluded that this claim was false, with PBS News Hour's White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López saying 'the idea that scientists are making mice transgender is false'.

"These experiments were studying the effects of gender-affirming hormones on asthma and on whether gender-affirming hormones increase breast cancer risk," Barrón-López explained.

Saying a day like The Purge would 'curb crime'

During his 2024 election campaign, Trump wildly called for 'one real rough, nasty' and 'violent day' of police retaliation in order to eradicate crime 'immediately' - which many drew comparisons to the thriller film The Purge.

"One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately," Trump said to the crowd in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Calling Kamala Harris a 's**t' vice president

Another moment during his 2024 election campaign saw Trump take aim at his opponent, former vice president Kamala Harris.

He told his supporters: "We have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore. We can’t stand you, you’re a s**t vice president. The worst."