Donald Trump Isn't Racist Because He Was Friends With Michael Jackson, Dana White Claims

UFC CEO Dana White defended President Donald Trump against accusations of racism by citing his long-term friendship with Michael Jackson.

White stated that Trump regularly invited the late pop star around his family and protected him during highly publicized controversies.

White appeared on The New Yorker Radio Hour with editor David Remnick to discuss his career and his 25-year friendship with Trump.

When pushed by Remnick regarding allegations that Trump is racist, White dismissed the claims by highlighting Trump’s past relationship with the King of Pop.

Arguments that the 79-year-old president is racist point to a long history of controversial statements and actions. Critics and civil rights groups frequently cite his 1973 Justice Department lawsuit for housing discrimination, his championing of the "birther" conspiracy theory against former President Barack Obama, his characterizations of Mexican immigrants, and his attacks on minority lawmakers and the Obama family. His administration’s immigration policies, such as the travel bans targeting several Muslim-majority nations, are also widely condemned as discriminatory.

White noted that following the release of the 2026 Michael biographical film, archival footage re-emerged showing Trump publicly defending Jackson.

“These things that he’s a racist and he’s a N---, and he’s this and that — I mean, Donald Trump, all this stuff’s coming out now,” White said. “You know, the Michael movie just came out, and you see all these videos now popping up of Trump defending Michael Jackson and the type of person that he was, and that Michael Jackson was around his children and around his family a lot.”

White emphasized that the POTUS supported the icon when allegations were "going down," making the claim that Trump is racist "crazy."

The interview grew tense when Remnick questioned the logic of using Jackson as a character reference, pointing out the severe child sexual abuse allegations Jackson faced during his lifetime.

Remnick challenged White, stating that Jackson was "a deeply, deeply flawed human being" who "was abusive [from] everything we know about him."

“But wait a minute, Dana! Michael Jackson — as talented as he was, as brilliant as he was — was a deeply, deeply flawed human being, to say the least,” Remnick said. “And was abusive [from] everything we know about him.”

White responded that he did not know if the abuse allegations against Jackson were true, but re-emphasized that Trump maintained a close bond with the singer.

The "Thriller" singer rented a penthouse apartment in New York City's Trump Tower for many months during the 1990s. During this time, he became a fixture in the Trump family, frequently playing video games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with young Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

“I don’t know if that’s true, but I can tell you the president had a very good relationship with Michael Jackson and had Michael Jackson around his kids all the time,” White responded. “And you know, I defended him when that stuff was going down. So to call the guy a racist is crazy. He’s not a racist.”

Jackson was acquitted of all criminal charges during a high-profile 2005 trial.

Remnick also pressed White on Trump’s social media activity, specifically a controversial Truth Social post depicting former President Obama as an ape, after which Trump called himself "the least racist president."

White stated he had not seen the specific post, but firmly doubled down on his personal stance: "He's not a racist. He's not a fascist. He loves this country."

“If he was that type of person, I never would associate with that type of a person, no matter who he was,” White said.

White’s decision to host a UFC event at the White House in June sparked criticism from some corners of the MMA community, with former fighters like Ben Henderson criticizing it as a "clown show" and a "circus spectacle.”