Long before Donald Trump's Taj Mahal in Atlantic City went bankrupt, the nearly bankrupt $1 billion casino became the home in November 2000 of an upstart mixed martial arts promotion known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Officially, all 5,000 seats were sold out that night as former wrestler Randy Couture made his return to MMA alongside legendary fighters Kevin Randleman, Maurice Smith and Andrei Arlovski.
But what was otherwise an ordinary night for Trump and UFC turned out to be a transformative one for both: The MMA promotion got a foothold in New Jersey, which remains one of the sport's biggest centers, and Trump eventually forged a pivotal friendship with Dana White, who became UFC president in 2001.
“He loves America and he cares about this country,” White told Fox News this week while campaigning for Trump. “That's it. End of story. If he wasn't that type of person, I wouldn't even be involved with him.”
But White has ties to Trump, and those connections are becoming more frequent ahead of the 2024 election. Here, DailyMail.com looks back at the pair's unlikely friendship and how they're using it to connect with fans, sponsors and voters.
A prime example of what The New York Times called “cage match politics” came at UFC 302 in Newark on June 1, when Trump and White walked onto the floor of the Prudential Center to thunderous applause.
After a few minutes of congratulations, Trump shook hands with several dozen spectators, including announcers Joe Rogan and Jon Anik, before heading to his seat to watch lightweight Islam Makhachev defeat Dustin Poirier in the main event.
The scene was a dramatic change from the previous day, when Trump was convicted of 34 counts of fraud in New York and, earlier that day, when an exasperated former president predicted a “breaking point” when he faces prison time in July.
“It's going to be unacceptable to the American people,” Trump told Fox News. “I know there's going to be a breaking point at some point.”
But despite the negativity and uproar surrounding his conviction, Trump simply hit the “reset” button by attending UFC 302, and suddenly the cloud over his head has disappeared.
“His base is Trump's base,” former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told The New York Times, “and Trump's base is his base.”
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And it wasn't just UFC fans who gave Trump the praise he craves: UFC fighters, including Sean Strickland, used the platform to support the Queens native.
“President Trump, you're the best. What they're doing to you is an absolute travesty,” Strickland said in an interview from the ring. “I donate to you.”
Trump also has fans including UFC star Jorge Masvidal, Russian boxer Khabib Nurmagomedov and Colby Covington, all of whom have become popular among MAGA supporters.
Interestingly, when Covington lost unanimously to Leon Edwards in December, he accused the justices of conspiring to rule against Trump and repeated Trump's unproven claims of election fraud.
“I thought I did enough, but you know, the judges didn't look kindly on me,” Covington told Fox News host and Trump ally Jesse Watters. “They don't like me because I support Trump, and everybody in this building hates Trump, so there's no way around it. Life goes on.”
The comment has since sparked controversy among Trump supporters, with Masvidal slamming Covington for dragging the real estate mogul into the conversation.
'for [Covington] “You're a disgusting person for bringing Trump's name up so much and then saying people hate you because you support Trump and that people stole from you because of Trump and now you're blaming the greatest president this country has ever had?” Masvidal told BroBible in February.
Trump, however, managed to stay out of the fray.
Additionally, Trump's main connection to UFC is White, not any specific fighter, and White credits Trump with ensuring the company's survival.
In the 1990s, UFC faced an entirely different PR battle after Senator and known boxing fan John McCain called MMA “human cockfighting.” Public opinion was so bad that many states refused to sanction the fights.
But that began to change in the early 2000s when Trump welcomed the UFC brand to his shows at the Taj Mahal, and the MMA circuit gained some much-needed exposure on NBC when Trump enlisted MMA legend Tito Ortiz to appear on a season of The Celebrity Apprentice.
“Nobody took us seriously except Donald Trump,” the Times quoted White as saying.
Their friendship somehow survived Trump's decision to start his own MMA organization, Affliction, in 2008, which folded after just two fights.
And when UFC signed its first major cable deal with Fox Sports in 2011, Trump sent White a newspaper article and an encouraging message: “Congratulations, Dana. I knew you'd make it.”
In 2016, when Trump was first running for the White House, White spoke in support of her friend at the Republican National Convention.
“I've been in the combat sports business my whole life, and I know fighters,” White said during his speech. “Followers, Donald Trump is a fighter, and I know he'll fight for this country.”
White was an even stronger supporter of Trump at the 2020 convention, speaking via satellite as the president faced widespread criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Let's talk about COVID, and let's be honest,” said White, who donated $1 million to Trump's campaign in 2020. “No one, no place could have predicted the challenges that COVID would bring, but President Trump has faced all of these obstacles head on.”
And White gained further support in MAGA circles by resurrecting the UFC before any other major US sports organization.
Best of all, it got President Trump's approval for the videotaped event of UFC 249, the first major sporting event post-COVID.
“Let's play,” Trump said in the message. “Maintain social distancing and do whatever else you need to do, but we need sports. We want sports to come back.”
But of all the things Trump has done for White, none may be more significant than his efforts to help out struggling UFC sponsor Bud Light.
The brand faced an existential threat after it enlisted a transgender spokesperson to promote its beer on Instagram, and according to the Times, Bud Light appeared to sponsor the UFC in an effort to appease millions of male beer drinkers across the country who were upset with the brand.
In fact, White faced immediate backlash from UFC fans after signing an endorsement deal with Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, that would pay him $105 million a year.
According to The New York Times, White reached out to President Trump in an attempt to resolve the situation, and the former president subsequently released a statement urging fans to give Bud Light “one more chance.”
“Anheuser-Busch is not a woke company,” Trump wrote in February, adding that the company is a “great American brand.”
A few weeks later, White took Trump to UFC 299 in Miami, where he was joined by Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele, his daughter Ivanka and thousands of enthusiastic supporters.
Interestingly, Trump has yet to convince Rogan, a comedian and UFC announcer who has one of the most popular podcasts in the country.
Rogan told podcast listeners last year that Trump aides had tried to get him on the show but the host vetoed the idea.
“I'm not a Trump supporter in any way,” Rogan said. “I've had more than one opportunity to invite him on my show. I've turned him down every time. I don't want to help him. I'm not interested in helping him.”
But even without Rogan's endorsement, Trump continues to praise White's brand, just as he did at a rally in Georgia ahead of UFC 299.
“The best reflection of our electoral process in this country is a UFC fight,” Trump said at a rally in Rome, “and maybe a little milder than the election business.”
“Dana White has done a great job. I hope he doesn't run against me. He's done a great job. Business is easier than politics.”
