Dana White, president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has opened up about his long-standing friendship with President Donald Trump, revealing that the pair rarely discuss politics. In an interview with Rolling Stone, White said: 'We definitely don’t talk politics. We talk about everything but.'
White, 56, described his relationship with Trump, 79, as 'really close' and insisted it is not transactional. 'I don’t want anything from him. I’m not looking for anything from him. There’s nothing transactional in our relationship. We’re friends,' he told the magazine.
The UFC boss also repeated a claim about Trump’s sleep habits, saying: 'I mean, this guy doesn’t sleep. I’m not a big sleeper either, but his level of sleep is inhuman. I don’t even know how he does it, especially at his age.'
White recalled the backlash he faced when Trump asked him to speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention. 'Everybody told me not to do it. The two reasons were, number one, you don’t want to get anywhere near politics, and number two, he’s never going to win,' he said. Despite the warnings, White agreed because Trump had supported the UFC in its early days when others refused.
Their friendship dates back to the early 2000s, when Trump hosted a UFC event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. White has since repaid the favour by speaking at the RNC, boosting Trump’s popularity with young white men during the 2024 election, and hosting him at UFC events. The next chapter comes on June 14, Trump’s birthday, when the UFC will hold its first-ever cage fight at the White House as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. White insisted the event is not political, telling Time magazine: 'You can make anything political if you want to.'
