Trump in New York for UFC fight at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK — 

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his predetermination triumph connected Saturday nighttime by attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship lawsuit with billionaire person Elon Musk and cheering fans astatine a heavy guarded Madison Square Garden successful New York City.

Known by immoderate successful the mixed martial arts satellite arsenic the "Combatant successful Chief," Trump counts UFC President Dana White arsenic a adjacent person and considers fans of the athletics portion of his governmental base. Trump sat betwixt White and Musk and paid rapt attraction to the fights.

He entered the arena to large euphony and waved to the crowd, galore of whom returned the gesture. Among those joining him were House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, Tesla CEO Musk, a adjacent Trump adviser, vocalist Kid Rock and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom helium plans to nominate for caput of wellness and quality services.

His sojourn to the storied Manhattan arena brought him backmost to the country of a arguable run rally helium held determination connected October 27, erstwhile a warm-up comedian mocked Puerto Rico arsenic a "floating land of garbage."

Saturday's header lawsuit successful the octagon astatine UFC 309 was a conflict for the undisputed heavyweight title of the satellite betwixt Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

A Trump adjutant posted a photograph connected societal media showing Trump watching immoderate of the undercard fights portion seated connected his level adjacent to Kennedy.

A fistful of visitors successful Madison Square Garden, an arena with a seating capableness of astir 20,000, wore reddish "Make America Great Again" hats.

One of them, Sean Allen, 22, traveled to the lawsuit from Monroe successful upstate New York, wherever helium lives and works for a region department.

He said helium had voted for Trump and borrowed his MAGA chapeau from a person aft learning that the Republican president-elect, who won a decisive triumph connected November 5 implicit Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, mightiness travel to the fight.

"I’d ne'er voted before. That was my archetypal clip voting," Allen said, adding that helium could person voted astatine the erstwhile predetermination but did not attraction astir politics.

"When I woke up, I was like, 'OK, wow, Trump won big.'"

Nicholas Defilippo, 39, different visitant successful a MAGA hat, besides enactment it connected to explicit his enactment for Trump aft voting for him. Defilippo lives successful New Jersey and works successful instrumentality enforcement.

"He’s the astir courageous antheral connected the planet," helium said of Trump.

The president-elect's self-styled "Trump Force One" level near Palm Beach airdrome soon aft nightfall for the two-hour flight. It was lone the 2nd clip Trump has near the Palm Beach, Florida, country since winning the statesmanlike predetermination connected November 5.

The 78-year-old Republican flew to Washington connected Wednesday to conscionable with President Joe Biden astatine the White House and has different been filling Cabinet positions for his incoming medication from his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago resort.

A dense information beingness was successful spot astir Madison Square Garden.