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.
A photo from inside the jet showed Trump watching the preliminary fights alongside RFK Jr., who he named earlier this week as his pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy, who began the 2024 campaign as a Democratic candidate, suspended his bid and joined forces with Trump in August, becoming a powerful surrogate and a close confidante in the final months of the race.
Ramaswamy, an early 2024 Republican presidential candidate who dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Trump, tweeted a picture of him with Kid Rock at the Madison Square Garden fight. It was not clear if they flew with Trump or traveled separately.
Ramaswamy and Musk have been appointed to run what Team Trump is calling the Department of Government Efficiency, which intends to root out trillions of dollars in waste and fraud in the federal budget.
Trump and White are longtime friends, the latter making several appearances during Trump’s campaign leading up to the election.
