Donald Trump has made his grand entrance at Madison Square Garden for UFC 309 alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk and, of course, Dana White.
Only instead of chitchatting with his Health of Human Services nominee, billionaire donor and the UFC’s CEO, Trump instead made a beeline for announcer Joe Rogan, the podcast host who arguably helped the President-elect return to the White House. Although it’s unclear what was said, the two shared a brief whispered exchange before Trump went to his seat.
Rogan famously gave his endorsement to the Republican nominee following a pair of popular interviews with Musk and the Trump on his podcast.
The President-elect’s presence had been expected at ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena,’ where he recently held a blockbuster campaign rally ahead of his November 5 electoral victory. Only on Saturday, the 78-year-old seemed happy to concede the spotlight to heavyweights Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
Others from Trump’s circle also made appearances, including Informal ‘DOGE’ appointee, Vivek Ramaswamy, who shared a photograph of himself alongside Kid Rock. Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric were seen lurking behind their father’s entourage, while Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard as well as Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, were also spotted in the crowd.
Fans, predictably, went wild for the President-elect, who performed his peculiar YMCA dance for the delighted crowd and was also received with a tribute video, congratulating him on his electoral victory.
White and Trump’s fondness for each other is no secret. Trump has tapped the UFC President and CEO to speak for him at the last three Republican National Conventions, leading many to wonder if he’d serve a greater role in the White House at some point.
‘His base is Trump’s base,’ Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former White House counselor, previously told The New York Times of White. ‘And Trump’s base is his base.’
White, however, has downplayed any potential Trump appointment.
‘Donald Trump is one of my very good friends,’ White told Sports Business Journal through a spokesperson. ‘He did a great job in his last term as president, and I know he will do an even better job the next four years. I have no personal political aspirations.’
Besides, White may provide a greater service to Trump through what The New York Times calls ‘cage-match politics.’ Trump now makes regular cage-side appearances at UFC events, where fight fans — and the fighters themselves — have showered the former President with adulation.
The best example of this came on June 1 at UFC 302 in Newark, where Trump was met by thunderous applause as he strolled onto the Prudential Center floor alongside White.
After being feted for several minutes, Trump shook hands with dozens of onlookers, including announcers Joe Rogan and Jon Anik, before making his way to his seat to watch lightweight Islam Makhachev defeat Dustin Poirier in the main event.
The scene was a dramatic departure from a day earlier, when Trump was convicted of 34 counts of fraud in New York.
Saturday’s event is being held at MSG, which hosted a blockbuster Trump rally two weeks earlier that may have helped catapult him back into the White House. As was the case at the Republican National Convention, White spoke in support of his friend, Trump, to the MSG crowd last month.
Trump later celebrated that victory with White at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
‘Nobody deserves this more than him, and nobody deserves this more than his family does,’ White told the crowd in Palm Beach.
‘This is what happens when the machine comes after you. What you’ve seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like.
‘He keeps going forward, he doesn’t quit. He’s the most resilient, hard-working man I’ve ever met in your life. His family are incredible people. This is karma, ladies and gentlemen. He deserves this, they deserve it as a family.’
