NEWSDonald Trump Used Dark Humor to Brush Off Joe Rogan's UFC Security Fears
Joe Rogan recalled telling Donald Trump about his White House UFC security fears.
June 24 2026, Published 8:32 a.m. ET
Joe Rogan went to the White House UFC event worried about the obvious nightmare scenario, but President Donald Trump was unruffled and ready with a dark punchline.
During the June 20 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan recalled speaking with Trump about the possibility of a terror attack at UFC Freedom 250, the fight night staged on the White House lawn as part of America’s 250th anniversary programming and Trump’s 80th birthday celebration.
The Line That Made Rogan Lose It
Donald Trump's response left the podcaster laughing.
“I said to Trump, ‘I hope we don’t die in a terrorist attack,’” Rogan said. “He goes, ‘We gotta go somehow.’ I go, ‘What the f---, dude?’”
Rogan cracked up while retelling the exchange to MMA trainer Trevor Wittman and UFC Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. Both guests admitted they had also thought about the risk of something happening at the high-profile outdoor event.
Trevor Wittman and Justin Gaethje admitted they also thought about the event’s risks.
Wittman said he was “honestly really nervous. I was like, dude… something could happen.”
Gaethje had a more cage-fighter response: “I was like, f--- it. If I get taken out in the middle of the cage, how f---ing legendary would that be?”
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A White House Fight Night With Real Anxiety
Political tensions added anxiety to the fight night.
Rogan’s concern did not come out of nowhere. The event took place amid tensions surrounding Trump’s conflict with Iran, and Rogan had voiced worries months earlier about holding a major fight card at the White House during such a volatile moment.
“I know it’s going to be very high-security and high stress and weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f---ing war,” Rogan said on his podcast in March. “I would hope the war will be sorted out by June, but quite honestly, I’m not confident that’s going to be the case.”
The event drew protests in Washington and across the country. Critics objected to the spectacle for multiple reasons, including that it was reportedly the first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds.
Joe Rogan’s Big Reversal
Joe Rogan later called the event 'the greatest night of fights of all time.'
Despite speaking out against the White House UFC concept before fight night, Rogan sounded fully converted after attending.
“That was the wildest experience that I’ve ever had in my 20-whatever years of calling combat sports. There’s nothing even close,” he said.
He also called it “the greatest night of fights of all time” adding, “I felt so American.”
