Dana White, Donald Trump’s ‘Buddy Guard’*
Published in Les Echos
(France) on 07 January 2025
by Derek Perrotte (link to original)
(France) on 07 January 2025
by Derek Perrotte (link to original)
Translated from
by Soeli Leverett.
Edited by Patricia Simoni.
A close friend of Donald Trump's, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, helped him win the youth vote. This self-made man will join Meta’s board of directors, which seeks to ingratiate itself with the White House.
With his cube-shaped build and butch-boy bouncer look, Dana White was quickly mistaken for a mere “bodyguard.” But White didn’t spend the campaign glued to Donald Trump to protect him; the powerful head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship wanted to ensure his victory.
With his booming Boston Irish voice, this son of an alcoholic firefighter was the missing link between older Republicans and a whole generation of American youth more adept in the weight rooms than in the libraries. By praising his “fighter” qualities and opening the doors to podcasts reeking of testosterone and steroids, the “king of bruises” (according to La Libération) turned an orange-skinned, overweight Floridian 70-something-year-old into an “alpha male.” Many beta males have since joined in, and he has his old pal Dana to thank, a true buddy guard!
Testosterone
Trump always reserves a place of honor for him at his table, along with Elon Musk. One hell of a learned assembly! The image of these three men at Mar-a-Lago together on the evening of his victory seemed to come out of the metaverse that White will be joining: On Tuesday, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) announced the appointees to its board of directors. This is symbolic of the libertarian turn that Mark Zuckerberg is taking with his networks, four years after excluding Trump after the attack on the Capitol. Business is business.
As a rambunctious teenager, White’s parents sent him to the nuns … in Las Vegas. In 2001, after having become a sports coach, he convinced two clients to invest and trust him with the ultra-violent UFC, which was in the throes of death at the time. In 20 years, using equally muscular methods, he has turned it into a major sport where dollars rain down even more than punches. With Trump’s reelection, he has confirmed it: Big punches are what he’s all about.
*Editor's Note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
With his cube-shaped build and butch-boy bouncer look, Dana White was quickly mistaken for a mere “bodyguard.” But White didn’t spend the campaign glued to Donald Trump to protect him; the powerful head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship wanted to ensure his victory.
With his booming Boston Irish voice, this son of an alcoholic firefighter was the missing link between older Republicans and a whole generation of American youth more adept in the weight rooms than in the libraries. By praising his “fighter” qualities and opening the doors to podcasts reeking of testosterone and steroids, the “king of bruises” (according to La Libération) turned an orange-skinned, overweight Floridian 70-something-year-old into an “alpha male.” Many beta males have since joined in, and he has his old pal Dana to thank, a true buddy guard!
Testosterone
Trump always reserves a place of honor for him at his table, along with Elon Musk. One hell of a learned assembly! The image of these three men at Mar-a-Lago together on the evening of his victory seemed to come out of the metaverse that White will be joining: On Tuesday, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) announced the appointees to its board of directors. This is symbolic of the libertarian turn that Mark Zuckerberg is taking with his networks, four years after excluding Trump after the attack on the Capitol. Business is business.
As a rambunctious teenager, White’s parents sent him to the nuns … in Las Vegas. In 2001, after having become a sports coach, he convinced two clients to invest and trust him with the ultra-violent UFC, which was in the throes of death at the time. In 20 years, using equally muscular methods, he has turned it into a major sport where dollars rain down even more than punches. With Trump’s reelection, he has confirmed it: Big punches are what he’s all about.
*Editor's Note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
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