Donald Trump is insulting his supporters—again.
In the midst of a White House press event Wednesday promoting the executive mansion’s upcoming UFC tournament, mixed martial artist Justin Gaethje attempted to praise the president for normalizing UFC tournaments and humanizing its fighters. Instead, he got sucker-punched by an unexpectedly emotional jab from the man behind the Resolute Desk.
“I’m not sure many know how big of a part you were to the UFC becoming mainstream in the early ’90s, when nobody would let us—no one would believe in us, they thought they were absolute animals, and you gave us a chance to fight in your properties—” Gaethje said, before Trump interjected.
“Well, they were right about that,” Trump chirped.
But the joke was tepidly received.
“Well,” Gaethje said, hanging his head. “Somewhat, somewhat.”
Gaethje: Nobody believed in us, and they thought we were just absolute animals.
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 6, 2026
Trump: Well, they're right about that pic.twitter.com/QUfVNb74Gi
Trump is a lifelong fan of boxing and MMA—so much so that he’s planning to host a UFC tournament on the White House lawn on his birthday, June 14. The main card will pit Gaethje against Ilia Topuria for the lightweight title, and Alex Pereira against Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. UFC’s parent company, TKO Holdings, has promised that the entire event—which is expected to cost around $60 million—will be funded entirely by the sports organization and come at no cost to taxpayers.
It will be the first UFC event ever hosted at the White House, and while the fight itself may be unprecedented, Trump’s derogatory comments are anything but. Trump has made a career of grifting his supporters, pledging his love for them one moment while backhanding them the next.
Over the course of the last year, Trump has derided his base as “stupid” and “weaklings” for caring about the Epstein files (and Trump’s prominent place in them), suggested that American workers lack skill, and told a bloc of supporters at a senior community in Florida that the crowd likely wouldn’t be able to pass the cognitive exams he had taken to convey his mental acuity. (Trump’s recollections of the tests have called into question whether he actually took them at all, as some of the tests’ creators have said their exams are to check for dementia, not cognitive speed.)
Trump has a history of having a big mouth. Over the course of his political ascent, he has famously referred to women by their genitals, called deceased veterans “suckers” and “losers,” claimed that he loves the “poorly educated,” and said he could get away with shooting someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters, suggesting his base is gullible and blindly loyal.