Trump is back—I need your help holding him to account

For the past eight years, I’ve reported on Trump and the significant role sports played in shaping his administrations. Now that he’s back, I need your support to continue holding him accountable.

Welcome to Sports Politika, a media venture founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan that strives to help you understand how sports and politics shape the world around us. Our mission is to offer an independent platform for accessible journalism that raises awareness and empowers understanding.

If you share this vision, please consider supporting us by joining our community and becoming a paid subscriber.

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When Barack Obama was introduced at Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the former president strode to the front row, waving to the crowd and greeting his fellow ex-presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But as the cameras panned across this gathering of political heavyweights, an unmistakably shiny bald head peeked out from behind them: none other than UFC President Dana White, improbably seated among America’s leaders.

The 55-year-old cagefighting impresario was given pride of place during Monday’s indoor ceremony, signifying his close relationship with the newly sworn-in 47th President of the United States. The MMA promoter was now one of the most influential figures in American politics.

White is arguably one of the driving behind Trump’s return to office. He stumped for Trump at three Republican National Conventions and a slew of campaign rallies over the past eight years. He traveled with the president on Air Force One and produced a UFC documentary on Trump entitled Combatant-in-Chief. Most recently, he spoke glowingly about Trump during a victory rally at Capitol One Arena the night before the inauguration.

“This guy is a winner,” White said during his five-minute speech. “And I say this all the time. He’s the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.

"He embodies what being an American is all about. We are the most toughest, resilient people on Earth and nothing can stop us when we unite."

Over the past few years, Trump frequently attended UFC events, basking in the admiration of the young, predominantly male crowd. He cultivated relationships with fighters, leveraging their support to portray himself as a symbolic strongman. He embraced the UFC’s culture of defiance, machismo and spectacle to help buttress his image as a rebel against liberal norms. It has also hastened the replacement of America’s conventional political culture with an abrasive new blend of entertainment and confrontational politics, perfectly embodied by both Trump and White.

Several prominent UFC figures were also present at Trump’s inauguration festivities, underscoring their symbolic alignment as “the president’s fighters.” Among them was longtime color commentator Joe Rogan, who hosted Trump on his wildly popular podcast and endorsed him ahead of the 2024 election. Also in attendance were UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and former champion Conor McGregor, solidifying the sport’s peculiar connection to Trump’s political brand.

UFC fighters posing with Mark Zuckerberg

This mutually beneficial relationship between Trump and the UFC, which has already reshaped American politics and culture, shows no sign of running out of steam soon and has quietly become a major force powering the president’s political ascendance.

As a veteran investigative journalist focused on the intersection of sports and politics, I have spent the past decade reporting on the Trump-UFC alliance. Much of that reporting has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and right here, at Sports Politika.

Serious sports journalism is a rarity and it was therefore no surprise that my work drew the wrath of UFC executives, who deemed me persona non grata and banned be from attending events as a member of the media. Nevertheless, I persisted in my reporting on the UFC’s business dealings, including its relationship with Trump.

For example, my friend Elie Bleier and I have put countless painstaking hours into a three-part audio series about Trump and the UFC. We carefully laid out their shared history highlighting how the UFC evolved into a potent platform for the MAGA movement. We also detailed how the organization played a key role in rehabilitating Trump’s image after the January 6 insurrection, when he was cast out as a political pariah. It was all unfolding in plain sight, yet few took it seriously.

The three-part series is available here and was only made possible with the support of Sport Politika’s generous subscribers.

As we find ourselves once again thrust into the Trump era, the stakes have never been higher. The intersections of power, politics, and culture—particularly through the lens of sports—demand deeper scrutiny now more than ever. Over the years, I’ve worked tirelessly to unpack the ways Trump leverages these platforms to shape his narrative and consolidate influence. But this work isn’t possible without your support. To hold his administration accountable, to expose the mechanisms behind the spectacle, and to ensure that truth prevails, I need your help.

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As Sports Politika nears its 2nd anniversary, we are yet to reach a critical mass of subscribers needed to operate an independent media platform. In order to achieve this, we need at least 200 more paid subscribers, or the equivalent of $10,000. This money would directly contribute to our investigative work, new audio series, and help pay freelancers contributing to the site.

We deserve better coverage of the intersection between sports and politics—better reporting on Trump and his deepening alliances within the sports world. With your support, we can achieve impactful accountability journalism that exposes these connections and their broader implications. Together, we can illuminate the issues that matter and tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

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