Q&A with UFC President Dana White on His Support for Former President Donald Trump

UFC President Dana White recently spoke to Yahoo Sports about a range of topics, including his vocal support for Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for the U.S. presidency. Trump has become a fixture at UFC pay-per-view events of late, with the UFC hosting special walkouts for the former president and highlighting his cageside presence during the broadcast.

The approach has not been without criticism, but White has defended the practice and explained his own support for Trump, including by giving speeches at the Republican Party convention and on various cable news political talk shows.

On his public support for Trump, including a recent appearance on CNN

Dana Wit: As far as talking politics, everybody knows my long-standing friendship and history with Donald Trump. Otherwise, you don’t really see me getting political or trying to get on any of these political shows. And even when I do talk on political shows, I talk to everybody. I don’t just talk to the right. I talk to the right, the left, the independents.

I’m talking to everybody, because when you look at all the bullshit that’s going on in politics right now, I don’t care what side you’re on. We’re all Americans. We all want the same thing. We want a good income. We want a home, we want a car. We want to feel safe in our hometowns and secure in our homes, and we want to provide for our families. No matter what walk of life you come from, no matter what you want, we all want the same thing. And what I’m really trying to say is, stop all this bullshit. We’re all Americans. I’m not telling anybody how to vote. I’m not telling anybody how to think. I’m just telling everybody my relationship that I’ve had with this man for 20 years and who he really is and what kind of person he really is, and what kind of people his family is. They’re good people. So that’s really it, that’s it for me.

On Trump’s Fighting Style Strikes Featured on UFC Broadcasts

DW: It’s true when we come out, but do you see how the crowd reacts to that? It’s outrageous. If (Joe) Biden came to a UFC event, I would treat Biden the same way. I probably wouldn’t walk, but if Biden was there, we would recognize the fact that the President of the United States — or if (Barrack) Obama or (George) Bush or any of those guys ever came to an event — we would treat them with the same respect. A former or sitting President of the United States shows up to your event, you show them the respect.

It’s just like what happened with Trump, the assassination attempt. If someone were to assassinate Biden or any of the other former presidents of the United States, I would be fucking disgusted, just like I was disgusted by the attempt on Trump’s life. I’m an American, and whoever the president of the United States is, is my president. You don’t hear me running around saying, that guy is not my president. Whoever the current or former president of the United States is, is my president. And they would be treated with the same respect.

Across the political divide

DW: When we were at Madison Square Garden, the last time Trump came to Madison Square Garden, two of the Secret Service units had passed each other and they said Biden’s granddaughter was there and the Secret Service was there with her. I tried to grab her. I tried to get them to pull her back into my room to meet her and say, thank you for coming to the event or whatever. But I think when she heard Trump was coming, she left, which sucks. I would have loved to have met her.

But I don’t judge people by their politics, and I don’t play any of those shitty games that people play with politics. I treat everybody with respect. And the UFC, it’s not like, oh, this is a big Republican or whatever. These people come to the event and we do our thing. And Trump is a fan. From day one, this guy has been a fan. He showed up. Hey, guess what? When he wasn’t president of the United States and he came to (the Trump casino events in Atlantic City), he was all over that show. Back then, when we were doing them at the Taj (Mahal), it was no different.