President-elect Trump arrived at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, fresh off his election win and weeks after his historic rally in the building.
Donald Trump made a triumphant return to Madison Square Garden Saturday night as the president-elect with a star-studded entourage, basking in the thunderous applause of fans at UFC 309 just weeks after holding a historic rally inside the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Trump, making his first UFC appearance since winning the election Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris, walked in with an entourage that included UFC President Dana White, Elon Musk, Speaker Mike Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Kid Rock, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and sons Donald Jr. and Eric.
When he came through the tunnel next to White and appeared for all to see, the reception was deafening, according to the broadcast team.
“If people at home could hear the sound in this room right now. It is so loud!” Joe Rogan said on the pay-per-view broadcast. “It’s always loud when he comes in, but now that he’s won [the election], now that he’s the president again, oh my God!”
The broadcast added that those able to stand inside the arena were doing so as the video board started playing a video montage for Trump’s arrival. Chants of “USA! USA!” also filled the arena.
As the crowd erupted, Trump made his way to the ringside announcers table where he embraced podcast king and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Trump appeared on Rogan’s popular podcast on Oct. 25, engaging in a freewheeling discussion that lasted some three hours. Harris declined to do the show, and Rogan would later endorse Trump.
Anticipation built all week that Trump would appear at the fight, and rumors were confirmed by Margo Martin, Trump’s deputy director of communications, who shot video of the president-elect entering his jet to travel to New York.
