The UFC lands at the White House for a historic event on June 14 after President Donald Trump first announced plans for the card during the summer as he began the planning stages to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
The event, which is set to take place on the White House lawn with elaborate staging, lighting and even entrances from the Oval Office, is expected to get plenty of attention from every corner of the globe regardless of interest in MMA. While there’s still a lot of planning left to do for the event, UFC owner Ari Emanuel, who serves as the CEO over the promotion’s parent company TKO Group Holdings, actually gave Dana White credit for spearheading the show thanks to his decades’ long friendship with Trump.
Funny enough, Emanuel actually served as Trump’s agent during his foray into Hollywood with his TV series The Apprentice but he still says White deserves all the praise for making the UFC White House card a reality.
“That you actually have to talk to my partner Dana White,” Emanuel said when addressing the UFC White House event on Norges Bank Investment Management podcast. “I represented the president for seven, nine years in his days on NBC. He had an incredible relationship with Dana when the UFC started. He was the first one in Atlantic City to put the UFC on when nobody would do it and they were calling it cockfighting.
“They’ve maintained an incredible relationship. When the president was running for the second time, Dana helped him out with his strategy in social and was very helpful and has been helpful for the president for a long time.”
White became one of Trump’s biggest supporters ahead of his election in 2016, which included a speaking appearance at the Republican National Convention, but he was even more involved in the 2024 election.
The UFC CEO routinely stumped for Trump publicly, making appearances on television and White even spoke during the president’s celebration after he got re-elected. Now that relationship has resulted in the first — and perhaps only — UFC White House card.
Of course, Trump’s popularity among UFC fighters and fans is well documented but it’s also impossible to ignore the growing political discourse in the United States, which has often times resulted in extreme violence.
Right wing political commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a speaking engagement in Utah back in September, which only further inflamed political tensions in the country.
For his part, Emanuel hopes that the volatile climate calms down sooner than later, especially as the UFC embarks on the White House card in 2026.
“I hope not,” Emanuel said when asked about politics potentially turning into a combat sport. “Going to this Charlie Kirk situation, I hope this is a kind of watershed moment where people realize this is a very bad path for the United States and for the world. I think it’s all over the world, there’s a very combative situation in politics. But I hope nobody gets choked out in politics. I just hope we kind of realign our thinking.
“I think as Bill Maher said, it’s very important to talk to everybody and I agree with that. Because you have to understand them and express your opinion so that there can be a middle ground. It’s like any negotiation. You can’t take everything off the table.”
While White and Emanuel both maintain a strong relationship with Trump, it’s going to get really interesting in the future when the 2028 election comes around, especially if a certain person gets involved in the next presidential race
During the interview, Emanuel addressed his relationship with his two brothers including Rahm Emanuel, who served as the chief of staff during President Barack Obama’s administration before being elected as the Mayor of Chicago.
Rahm Emanuel has teased potential interest in running for president, and he clearly has his brother’s support if that happens.
“Hopefully he runs for president,” Ari said about his brother Rahm. “I think he’s the most qualified guy out there for the Democratic party.”
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