Construction is ongoing at the White House ahead of the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 event that will next month mark 250 years of American independence and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. Arches have already gone up on the South Lawn ahead of the June 14 fights. Trump has previously displayed mockups of what the completed staging area would look like, including the UFC Octagon, wire mesh fences, and thousands of temporary seats. The UFC event will be the first professional sports contest ever held at the White House but not the first fight. For example in 1812 the British successfully attacked Washington and burned the White House. It’s also far from the only home improvement project underway at the White House. Construction continues on Trump’s ballroom, which has already seen the East Wing and the East Colonnade knocked down to make room. WIRED reported this week, citing two people familiar with the matter, that White House officials are pushing Republicans in Congress to approve $1 billion in security enhancements for the ballroom. Why? Because it would be, according to the officials, bad optics for private donors including Apple, Meta and Amazon to fund a presidential bunker underneath. In addition, the Oval Office and other parts of the West Wing now feature extra gold ornamentation in multiple places, while the lawn in the Rose Garden has already been replaced with a patio. Trump also still plans to build a triumphal arch across the Potomac River, which he says—like the ballroom—would be funded by private donors if built