Before the public learned that law enforcement had foiled a potential attack during UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, President Donald Trump joked about the possibility.
UFC commentator and podcast host, Joe Rogan, revealed the conversation he had with Trump, 80, during the event, held June 14 on the South Lawn.
“I said to Trump, ‘I hope we don’t die in a terrorist attack,’” Rogan, 58, said on the Saturday, June 20 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “He goes, ‘We gotta go somehow.’ I go, ‘What the f***, dude?’”
Rogan and Trump weren’t the only ones to consider the possibility of disaster striking the event, organized to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
UFC president and CEO Dana White called the shooting at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner “f***ing awesome,” after he and others were evacuated from the gala. “It started getting noisy. Tables getting flipped over, guys running in with guns,” White, 56, said while walking out of the hotel. “They were screaming ‘Get down!’ but […]
“I was like, ‘F*** it.’ If I get taken out in the middle of the cage, how f***ing legendary would that be?” UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje told Rogan.
Gaethje, 37, defeated Ilia Topuria in the UFC Freedom 250 main event.
Two days after the spectacle, FBI director Kash Patel confirmed that the bureau had arrested “multiple individuals” for planning to attack the fight on the White House’s South Lawn.
“On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region,” Patel, 46, wrote via X. “And thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold.”
UPDATE — 6/15/25, 9:53 a.m. ET: UFC CEO Dana White responded after fighter Josh Hokit received major backlash for calling former first lady Michelle Obama “a man” during his post-fight interview at UFC Freedom 250. “I understand that the Obama’s [sic] are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s […]
Patel continued, “While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team. We are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens — particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight. That’s exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted.”
The planned attacks involved “using drones and a gunman,” a law enforcement official told CNN. Patel added that the FBI and Secret Service had uncovered messages between 23 individuals discussing the plot.
“In the days leading up to this weekend, our special agents, mission support personnel, and technical security teams worked around the clock to identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” Secret Service Director Sean Curran wrote via X.
Despite UFC Freedom 250 appearing to run smoothly, don’t expect the organization to return to the White House. UFC president and CEO Dana White said he simply “can’t afford” it.
“We’ll never do this again,” he told reporters.
