New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani disclosed what happened during his White House meeting with President Donald Trump last week.
The democratic socialist, when asked about the “weirdest” thing he spotted during the visit in an appearance on “The Adam Friedland Show,” said he was sitting down and waiting for his meeting with the president when he saw “all these different coffee table books” in front of him.
“One of them is ‘UFC at the White House,’” said Mamdani, adding that he had “no idea” about the mixed martial arts event set to take place on the South Lawn in June. “I was just flipping through that.”
Mamdani, when asked by Friedland if he saw photos of guys fighting each other in the book, noted that it was just a visualization of what the UFC’s octagon-shaped cage arena would look like on the South Lawn.
The event — which Trump first teased in July as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration — is expected to include fighter weigh-ins at the Lincoln Memorial and is scheduled to coincide with the president’s 80th birthday on June 14, 2026.
UFC President and CEO Dana White — in an interview with Fox News in September — revealed that the seating capacity for the event would be around 5,000, citing security concerns. This marks a notable drop from Trump’s initial estimate of up to 25,000 spectators.
White, who has endorsed Trump since his 2016 campaign, has also claimed that a park near the White House could host 85,000 people to watch the event on TV screens. He told Sports Business Journal in October that his company would pay $700,000 to replace the White House lawn after the event.
Friedland asked Mamdani whether he was planning to attend the event.
“No,” replied Mamdani with a chuckle.