On Saturday night, former President Donald Trump arrived at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to a rousing ovation from the crowd. At UFC 290, the crowd went wild as he chatted with celebs and celebrated the win of a fellow fighter.
Trump, accompanied by UFC President Dana White, high-fived fans as they walked to his seat before the main event. After his thrilling second-round victory over Robert Whittaker, South African boxer Dricus Du Plessis got to meet the former president.
Pictures were taken all night long showing Trump mingling with celebrities like podcast host Joe Rogan, Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson, and “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” star Guy Fieri, aka “The Mayor of Flavortown.” One photo of Trump and Fieri was captioned by podcast host Benny Johnson with the lighthearted phrase, “Trump in Flavor Town,” a reference to Fieri’s nickname.
International Fight Week kicked off on July 3 and will end on Sunday with UFC 290 as its main event. White has become a personal friend of Trump’s over the years, to the point that he has publicly endorsed the president at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and 2020. At UFC 287 in April, the former president incited a boisterous “USA!” cry and is a frequent visitor to UFC events. In 2019, Trump attended a UFC event at Madison Square Garden in New York City as president.
On Saturday, before the highly anticipated bout, Trump spoke for 40 minutes at Calvary Chapel in Las Vegas. In his speech, he warned President Joe Biden that the “gloves are off” and voiced his displeasure with the nation’s direction.
During his speech, Trump claimed, “I wouldn’t have said this three weeks ago. That’s something I never would have said. I was genuinely rather nice to him. I tried to be cordial with him at first, but now the gloves are off. The lid is off the jar… He’s completely sold out.
Continuing his attack on Biden, the ex-president called him “corrupt” and “incompetent.” Immigration, crime, and the economy, he said, have all become worse under the Biden administration. Referencing previous allegations and the ongoing House inquiry into the Biden family’s overseas business dealings, Trump said that the president had collected “millions of dollars from other countries like China.”
Trump said, “We’re using the word ‘crooked’ for Joe Biden because Joe Biden is the most crooked president in the history of our country by a factor of hundreds,” refusing to use the same nickname he coined for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He’s a bad guy.
Trump lost Nevada in 2016 and 2020 by a combined margin of less than three points, but he has not written off a possible win there in 2024. His upbeat outlook was reflected in his statement, “We have a big job to undertake. It’s been difficult, but I still think this is a Republican state.