A timeline of Donald Trump and UFC CEO Dana White’s relationship
- Donald Trump and Dana White have enjoyed a decadeslong friendship predating presidential politics.
- In each of Trump’s three presidential campaigns, White lined up behind the president-elect.
- During the 2024 race, the mixed martial arts leader also appeared on Trump’s first TikTok video.
Donald Trump might be the only person who can attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight and outshine the headliners — even UFC CEO Dana White doesn’t draw the same type of reaction.
In November, Trump set the crowd off by walking into UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden to join his entourage, which included Elon Musk, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Trump’s cabinet nominees.
White stands at the center of it all. In just under three decades, White has turned his sport, once on the fringe of pop culture, into a spectacle that even a president-elect couldn’t resist.
Trump and White’s decades-long friendship has been mutually beneficial. White has repeatedly said he will never forget how Trump offered a grand stage to his sport when few others would. Trump successfully deployed White’s cohort of podcasters and influencers, led by Joe Rogan, in his 2024 election win.
“Nobody deserves this more than him, and nobody deserves this more than his family does,” White told the energetic crowd at Mar-a-Lago as it was apparent that Trump had been elected to a second term. “This is what happens when the machine comes after you.”
Here’s a look at the decadeslong relationship between Trump and White over the years:
