Donald Trump knows how to stay in the headlines — and last week was no different. The former president turned the White House into one of the richest dinner tables in history, stacking the room with Silicon Valley’s biggest power players. Thirteen billionaires. Countless multimillionaires. A guest list dripping with money and influence. But that wasn’t the only headline out of D.C. Around the same stretch, UFC CEO Dana White and the promotion’s lone reigning champion, Kayla Harrison, also stepped through the White House doors as Trump’s special guests.

Their visit came as the UFC quietly builds toward its monster 2026 card, which is already being hyped as one of next year’s biggest events. Harrison’s role on that card remains a mystery, but speculation is inevitable. After all, she’s currently the UFC’s only American champion — a fact that makes her White House invite feel even bigger.

Kayla Harrison opens up about her unexpected dinner with Donald Trump

Following in the footsteps of Conor McGregor, Harrison later peeled back the curtain on her surreal night in an interview with ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto. “I’m currently the only American champion right now in the UFC, so I think that might also play into it a little bit. And so, yeah, he invited me to the White House. Dana was going to meet about the UFC fights, so I got to see all of that and how it’s going to be. Then the president took us on a tour, we had a lovely dinner, and yeah, it was great. Pretty—very crazy, though. My life is very surreal sometimes.”

So when did she get the call? According to Harrison, the invite first came right after her title win at UFC 316, with Ali Abdelaziz and Dana White helping to lock it in. “I think that night, they were like, ‘Uh, we’ve got to have you come to the White House.’ And then I know that Ali was also working closely with them, and Dana was working with them and the UFC, so they figured out a time for us to meet,” she explained. Notably, this wasn’t Harrison’s first brush with White House history. She’d already made appearances during Barack Obama’s presidency, and again under Joe Biden.

Asked about the upcoming UFC event—whether it was Dana White’s vision or Donald Trump’s—Harrison confirmed it was President Trump’s idea. “I don’t know for sure, but I get the sense from Dana that all of this stuff is very stressful,” she said, highlighting the pressure Dana faces, particularly with security considerations surrounding the president. The host, clearly taken aback, remarked, “He’s never been too worried about taking on stress,” underlining Dana White’s track record of managing high-stakes situations with ease.

Dana White breaks down the thinking behind a UFC event at the White House

Donald Trump first came to Dana White’s rescue back in the early 2000s, opening the doors of his Taj Mahal casino to host key UFC events while the promotion fought for legitimacy and survival. That move wasn’t just a lifeline—it sparked a decades-long friendship between Trump and White, one that last year saw the UFC boss publicly endorsing the former president during his campaign.

Fast forward to today, and Trump is back in the White House, once again throwing his support behind the UFC. The announcement immediately stirred controversy. Critics called it “idiocracy,” while a senior investigative journalist at The Guardian labeled it a “circus.” Amid the growing backlash, Dana White stepped up to defend the plan, laying out the vision behind it.

He praised Trump’s approach, emphasizing the president’s belief that the White House should be open and enjoyable for all Americans. From Easter egg hunts for kids to the proposed UFC fight on the White House grounds, White explained, Trump is constantly finding ways for Americans to experience the historic residence in new and unexpected ways.

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, White unpacked the underlying philosophy behind the idea, stating, “One of the many things I love about him is his whole philosophy: the White House belongs to the American people, and the American people should be able to enjoy this place. You know, he’s doing the Easter egg hunts again for the kids, and he wants to do the fight there. He’s trying to figure out all these ways for Americans to enjoy the White House.”

Now, with the UFC White House event set for the South Lawn, fight fans everywhere are buzzing. Who belongs in a fantasy matchup on the historic Avenue? The comment section is open—drop your dream flights below and let the debate begin.