Dana White declares he would ‘do anything for Trump’ in new interview and reveals how often he speaks to the president
UFC boss Dana White has said he “would do anything” for President Donald Trump, revealing that the pair speak once a month.
“I don’t talk politics with him,” White, 56, told The Wall Street Journal. “And the only time I talk business with him is fights.”
White told the newspaper he credits Trump with putting his combat sport on the map by hosting bouts at his Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2001, before it was widely popular.
He also suggested that “testosterone” is the common theme that attracts people to both UFC and Trump’s aggressive brand of MAGA politics.
The impresario offered a tour of his Las Vegas office, which featured six framed photographs documenting a visit to the White House, a painting memorializing Charlie Kirk, and a pair of handguns gifted to him by Kid Rock.
Asked about the upcoming UFC bout being staged on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14 in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, White was less forthcoming.
“My focus is to find the best up-and-coming talent in the world, do the best matchmaking to put on the best fights possible, give people the best live event in-house and on TV,” he said.
“And as long as I don’t mess those up, it’s tough to blow it.”
The event also falls on Trump’s 80th birthday and has already forced France to reschedule its upcoming G7 summit to accommodate it.
The showcase will require the construction of both a ring and an arena to seat approximately 1,000 spectators on the naturally sloping presidential lawn, as well as a series of large screens so that many more people can watch the action unfold from the nearby Ellipse.
Trump himself offered a characteristically blustering update at the Kennedy Center Honors in December, promising one of the “biggest fights they’ve ever had.”
“They’re building an arena, the great Dana White’s building an arena,” he said. “And they’re gonna have eight or nine championship fights, the biggest fights they’ve ever had. Every one’s a championship fight, and everyone’s a legendary type of fighter.
“I think the arena’s gonna be 5,000 or 6,000 seats, right in front of the front door of the White House, and 100,000 people in the back, where they’re putting up eight or 10 very big screens. That’s gonna be an exciting night.”
Further details are scarce for now, but a weigh-in for the participants is expected to be held in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and White told Sports Business Journal in October that his company would pay $700,000 to restore the lawn once the event had concluded.
There is no word yet as to who will be taking part, but numerous fighters have thrown their names into the hat, including former champions Conor McGregor and Jon Jones.
White, however, has been coy about McGregor’s involvement and suggested he could not trust Jones.
Joe Rogan, the popular podcaster and UFC announcer, has meanwhile expressed scepticism over the spectacle, warning it could be a disaster and that the muggy summer weather in Washington, D.C., could prove a complicating factor.
