New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani recently shared a surprising moment from his visit to the White House, where he met with President Donald Trump.
According to Fox News, in an interview on “The Adam Friedland Show,” Mamdani described the unusual detail that caught his attention before he even entered the Oval Office.
“As I was sitting there, waiting to meet him, I noticed all these coffee table books,” Mamdani said. “One of them was titled ‘UFC at the White House.’ I had no idea a UFC event was even planned.”
Mamdani admitted he was simply flipping through the book, trying to take it all in.
“It was just a visualization of what… it’s going to look like on the lawn,” he explained. He clarified that he does not plan on attending the event himself.
During the visit, Mamdani said Trump gave him a tour of key White House rooms, including the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room.
“He showed me the portraits of all the presidents in the Cabinet Room,” Mamdani noted, reflecting on the more traditional elements of the tour.
The UFC tie-in is part of a larger set of celebrations for America’s upcoming 250th anniversary. Trump has previously announced plans for events at national parks, battlefields, and other historic sites, promising that the White House lawn will host a UFC fight featuring what he described as “the greatest fight card ever assembled.”
“Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House,” Trump said during a July appearance, emphasizing the expansive White House grounds as the venue.
Trump, a close friend of UFC President Dana White, attended a UFC event in Newark, New Jersey, in June, underscoring his personal interest in the sport.
Mamdani’s unexpected encounter with the UFC book offered a glimpse into the unusual ways that the White House has intertwined politics, entertainment, and upcoming national celebrations.
