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Charlamagne Tha God confronts Dana White over Trump support ahead of White House UFC fights

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/08/26 5:18 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/08/26 5:18 PM ET

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Podcast host Charlamagne Tha God on Friday grilled UFC President Dana White about his support for President Trump ahead of the upcoming UFC match to be held on the White House lawn.

White appeared on Charlamagne’s “The Breakfast Club” radio show, where White said he wants to work with people he’s “aligned with” and someone he has been friends with for more than 20 years.

“I can understand that, you know, that’s your friend, but when your friend has a disapproval rating of 62 percent, a record high, people say they don’t like his handling of the Iran war, the economy’s s‑‑‑ty, cost of living for people is f‑‑‑ed up, why can’t you tell your friend he’s failing the people, as a friend?” Charlamagne said.

White replied that Trump’s the president, but Charlamagne pressed on his point: “He’s still your friend though.”

“Yeah, I know,” White said. “But you know, for me to get involved in, it’s like if your friend had a — I’m sure people disagree with you that are friends with you and everybody has friends that you disagree [with], doesn’t mean you’re not friends with them anymore.”

Charlamagne made clear that he does not think White and Trump should not be friends, but he asked why White would not “tell your friend he’s failing the people?” White said he did not know if he agreed, adding that he has seen “all the good things that he does that a lot of people either don’t see or don’t want to see.”

This carried on before Charlamagne told White to not be a “glazer … a ‘yes man,’ basically.” White laughed off the remark, saying he’s not an “overly political person, personally” and he aligns himself with more centrist and liberal views.

White and Trump announced in March that the White House lawn will be the home of a 4,500-seat arena for the upcoming “UFC Freedom 250” event timed to coincide with the president’s 80th birthday on June 14.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of big events; I have never had an event that has had more interest than the UFC fight we have right at the front door,” Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office at the time.

Charlamagne has been outspoken in criticizing Trump. He denounced calls to tone down verbal attacks on Trump after an assassination attempt on the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last month, telling the president’s allies to “Stop it!”

“Like, I’m sick of that narrative,” he said on his show. “I need every single media personality to direct that energy and that question toward one person, and that is Donald J. Trump. At what point do people simply say, ‘Hey, Trump, it’s clear that you’re the drama?'”

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