Dana White, CEO of UFC, made headlines with his controversial remarks regarding the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, labeling the chaos as “f****g awesome.” His comments quickly gained traction across social media platforms.
During the event at the Washington Hilton hotel, a 31-year-old man named Cole Tomas Allen allegedly attempted to breach the venue armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives. Thousands were present, including notable figures like Erika Kirk, widow of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who expressed shock and horror at the unfolding situation.
In stark contrast to the reactions of many attendees, White recounted his experience with a sense of exhilaration. “It started to get noisy. Tables started getting flipped over, guys running with guns and they were screaming, 'Get down!'. I didn't get down. It was f*****g awesome and I literally took every minute of it in,” he shared with USA Today.
Describing the scene further, White noted, “It was a pretty crazy, unique experience. We were sitting right in front of the table, right in front of where the president was. Nobody got tackled but guys came in looking for shooters; I thought the shooter was over by us or something.”
White has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and is scheduled to promote an MMA event on the White House lawn on June 14, coinciding with the president’s birthday and the United States' 250th birthday celebrations.
As a guest of Paramount Skydance, the broadcaster associated with UFC, White occupied a prominent seat at the head table alongside President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
In response to the incident, President Trump expressed gratitude towards the Secret Service agents who neutralized the threat and assured that the event would be rescheduled. “The response time was really incredible, and we’re going to reschedule. We’re going to do it again; we’re not going to let anybody take over our society; we’re not going to cancel things because we can’t do that,” he stated.
Reflecting on a previous assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, White revealed in a 2025 interview with Piers Morgan that he had urged Trump to withdraw from the presidential race. This conversation took place while White was en route to Italy; upon landing, he reached out to Trump, who remained unfazed by the incident.
“Why are you doing this? Stop. Stop,” White recalled telling Trump. “You have such a good life and you can do so many things,” he added, emphasizing Trump’s strong religious beliefs.
Trump later conveyed to Morgan that he felt divinely protected during the attack, stating, “God must’ve had a plan for me. God wanted me to survive that bullet.” The FBI confirmed that Trump had been struck in the ear by a bullet during the incident.
White concurred with Trump’s sentiments: “He believes that to his core. That God has spared his life to be the president and do the things that he’s going to do over the next four years.”
