Donald Trump wants Ivanka to coordinate White House UFC fight as Dana White says she has contacted him
WASHINGTON DC: President Donald Trump has given his daughter Ivanka Trump an unexpected role in his second administration, planning a historic Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on White House grounds.
The event will mark the first UFC fight ever hosted at the White House and is scheduled for July 4, 2026, as part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
Ivanka Trump returns to high-profile role after years away from politics
Ivanka Trump, 43, previously served as a senior adviser in her father’s first term but stepped away from politics after 2020.
UFC CEO Dana White said Trump personally wanted her to take charge of the event.
"When [Trump] called me and asked me to do it, he said, 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'" White said on 'CBS Mornings'.
.@ufc CEO and president @danawhite says a July 4 UFC fight “live on CBS from the White House" is "definitely going to happen," adding he is talking through details with President Trump and Ivanka Trump.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 12, 2025
Sharing what led him to make the move to streaming, White calls the sport’s… pic.twitter.com/RmVKxZ4pS7
He added, "So Ivanka reached out to me, and she and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings."
Dana White says UFC at White House is set for July 4, 2026
President Donald Trump, a longtime UFC fan who has attended fights cage-side with Ivanka, has been floating the White House fight idea for months.
White confirmed it is “definitely going to happen,” and CBS News reported that a White House source backed the event plans.
He said the date was chosen to launch the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations. White’s popularity among young male voters has been credited by some with helping Trump secure his 2024 win.
Ivanka’s potential involvement would mark her return to public life after focusing on her family for the past three years.
She and her husband Jared Kushner, both central to Trump’s 2016 campaign, served as advisers during his first term.
Ivanka Trump previously rejected politics over family
Following the 2020 election and the Capitol Hill riots, Ivanka Trump distanced herself from politics, declining to join her father’s 2024 campaign.
In a 2022 Instagram post, she wrote, “I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”
View this post on Instagram
She told the 'Him & Her' podcast before Trump’s January inauguration, “I love policy and impact. I hate politics. And unfortunately, the two are not separable. I know the cost, and it’s a price that I’m not willing to make my kids bear."
View this post on Instagram
