The bond between Donald Trump and Dana White did not begin in a boardroom or a political arena — it started cageside. The Trump and Dana White friendship stretches back to November 2000, when White attended UFC 28 at Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City as manager of fighter John Lewis. Alongside him were casino-owning brothers Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, who trained under Lewis in jiu-jitsu. That night planted the seed for something far bigger than any of them could have imagined.
The Trump and Dana White Friendship Takes Root at the Taj Mahal
In January 2001, Zuffa LLC purchased the UFC for $2 million and installed White as president. With venues refusing to touch the promotion, Trump stepped in and hosted UFC 30 and UFC 31 at the Taj Mahal. White has never forgotten it. “When the Trump brand was here and the UFC brand was down there, he saw it and said, ‘I’d love to have it at my casino,'” White recalled. Notably, Trump’s Atlantic City operation had posted a net loss of £133.8 million for 1999, yet he still opened the door.
At UFC 30 on 23 February 2001, Tito Ortiz slammed Evan Tanner unconscious in 30 seconds to defend his light heavyweight title. By June 2001, Trump appeared cageside at the 20,000-seat Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford — the first photographic confirmation of his attendance. In a 2011 interview, White was blunt: “The guy saw this thing coming, was into it and gave us our first shot, and you’ll never hear me say anything bad about Trump.”
The relationship deepened through the mid-2000s. At UFC 50 in October 2004, a young Georges St-Pierre lost his first UFC title shot to Matt Hughes — and a production crew was on hand filming what would become “The Ultimate Fighter.” When TUF launched, a USA Today piece compared White’s on-screen role to Trump’s own on “The Apprentice.” Two reality TV juggernauts, bound together before anyone noticed.
In 2008, Trump briefly backed rival promotion Affliction Entertainment, signing off on heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko as its marquee star. Even then, he acknowledged White publicly: “I have great respect for Dana White.” Affliction folded in July 2009, just as White had predicted at the postfight press conference on the very night of its debut. The UFC had won without firing a shot.
From the Republican National Convention to the White House Octagon
The friendship moved into political territory in December 2015 when White publicly backed Trump’s presidential campaign. In July 2016, White addressed the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, telling the GOP crowd: “I’ve been in the fight business my whole life; I know fighters. Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump is a fighter.”
Subsequently, Trump became the first sitting US president to attend a UFC event at Madison Square Garden for UFC 244 on 2 November 2019, walking out alongside White to a cageside seat for Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz. In July 2024, White closed the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, introducing Trump as presidential nominee — a slot traditionally reserved for family. “The fact that his family also thought it should be me is probably one of the greatest honours of all time for me,” White later told Time magazine.
Furthermore, White played a key role in connecting Trump with podcasters ahead of the 2024 election, including persuading Joe Rogan to endorse the candidate. “You gotta start getting into podcasts,” White told Trump, steering him away from a Fox-only media strategy.
Now, on 14 June 2026 — Trump’s 80th birthday — the pair reach an unprecedented milestone. UFC Freedom 250 takes place on the South Lawn of the White House, featuring lightweight champion Ilia Topuria against interim champion Justin Gaethje, plus an interim heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira. Weigh-ins will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. The UFC estimates it will cost £700,000 to replace the South Lawn grass afterwards. No professional sporting event has ever been staged on White House grounds before. Twenty-five years on from Atlantic City, this is what the friendship built.