Trump's White House UFC fight target of 'explosive drones' plot with 'staged snipers' designed to kill thousands, FBI says

By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:38, 16 June 2026 | Updated: 11:53, 16 June 2026 The FBI thwarted an alleged plot to use drones and sniper teams to harm attendees at Sunday's UFC Freedom 250 celebration at the White House, according to federal officials.  The alleged masterminds planned to use explosive drones to hit buildings near the White House to cause confusion and force an evacuation of the event, the officials told Fox News.  Then, during the scramble, the plotters allegedly hoped that attendees would be steered towards their sniper team in waiting, the officials added.  After that, the suspects allegedly planned a 'second wave' attack that involved rushing the White House gates, officials revealed.  As of Monday, five people were taken into custody in connection with the plan. Investigators have identified 23 people potentially involved in planning.  The White House event drew around 4,300 attendees, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and countless other top Cabinet officials.  Officials said the FBI was first tipped off to the scary plot on June 10 and worked with law enforcement to find probable cause for an arrest.  One suspect was taken into custody in Cincinnati, according to officials.  The FBI and local authorities allegedly thwarted a plot to use explosive drones and sniper teams to target UFC Freedom 250 attendees  'Thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,' FBI Director Kash Patel said of the plot The plotters allegedly discussed their plans in encrypted chats on Signal, which were later accessed by investigators.  Officials said that at least 23 Signal users were involved in discussing operational details of the alleged plan. Some of those in the chat went as far as traveling to Fredericksburg, Virginia, around June 12 or June 13 to prepare for the attack. The town is just about an hour's drive south of Washington.  One suspect allegedly told authorities the group was targeting 'capitalist elites' and 'billionaires.' Also on the alleged target list were politicians who received donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), according to sources.   'Thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,' FBI Director Kash Patel said of the plot.  'We are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens — particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight. That’s exactly what we did here,' Patel said.  At least 12 FBI Field Offices were involved in thwarting the plan.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.