The U.F.C. President, Dana White, on Donald Trump: “He’s Not a Racist”

There will be a variety of celebrations to honor America’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary this year. Much of it is to be expected: fireworks, red, white, and blue lights, even a military parade. But something else is happening, something that probably wouldn’t occur if anyone other than Donald Trump were President. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the premier league for mixed martial arts, is staging a fight at the White House. The U.F.C. was founded in 1993, and exploded in popularity after Dana White took over as president of the company, in 2001. He’s also been friends with Donald Trump for a quarter century, and spoke on the President’s behalf at all three Republican National Conventions where Trump was the nominee. He’s stumped for him at rallies, and Trump even called him up to speak at his victory celebration on Election Night in 2024. David Remnick and White discuss his remarkable rise to prominence, and his relationship with the increasingly unpopular President. “He’s not a racist,” White tells Remnick. “He’s not a fascist. He loves this country. And if you’re an American—race, religion, whatever it is—President Trump is on your team, that I guarantee you.”

Episoder(1076)

Has MAGA Lost Faith in Donald Trump?

A growing portion of the electorate appears to recognize the mayhem President Donald Trump has instigated since returning to the Oval Office. That segment includes some of the people who put him back ...

16 Okt 30min

The Reporter Nicholas Lemann on California’s Battle to Pass a Billionaire Tax

In California, progressives have crafted a ballot initiative that calls for a wealth tax—a one-time, five-per-cent tax on wealth above a billion dollars, earmarked to shore up the state’s health-care ...

13 Okt 18min

Canada’s Plans for Donald Trump

The economic punishment and threats of aggression that Donald Trump has launched against Canada are so severe that its government has looked at how to prepare for U.S. military action. David Remnick s...

9 Okt 31min

An American Journalist Imprisoned as a Spy in Russia

In 2023, Evan Gershkovich was working as a young reporter in Moscow for the Wall Street Journal, when he was arrested by Russian authorities. He was eventually convicted on blatantly false charges of ...

6 Okt 21min

Jeremy Strong on Playing Mark Zuckerberg and Other Unpopular Characters

In Aaron Sorkin’s latest film, “The Social Reckoning,” the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg deals with multiple federal investigations and a whistle-blower’s revelations about the damage that the comp...

2 Okt 28min

Min Jin Lee on “American Hagwon,” Her First Novel After the Phenomenon of “Pachinko”

Min Jin Lee gave up climbing the ladder of conventional success by quitting her corporate-law job and then spending more than a decade working on her début novel, “Free Food for Millionaires.” Ten yea...

29 Sep 28min

Ari Emanuel on Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Mixing Business with Politics

Ari Emanuel is the executive chairman of W.M.E., one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood. He has overseen the careers of Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Meghan Markle, Martin Scorsese, Dwayne (th...

25 Sep 31min

Grandmaster Flash on “Birth of a Culture”

Grandmaster Flash has been an innovator in the art of d.j.’ing since he was practically a child growing up in the Bronx. As a young man named Joseph Saddler, he spent his days trying to figure out how...

22 Sep 34min