Donald Trump ponders UFC fight club for migrants

Former President Donald Trump mused that the UFC should start a migrant fight club and train asylum seekers and illegal immigrants in combat because migrants are “tough, mean and nasty.”

In two speeches on Saturday – one to a gathering of Christian conservatives and later at a rally in Philadelphia – Trump brought up the concept and recounted how he presented it to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White.

“These people are tough. They are so tough,” Trump told conservative Christians at a Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington DC

“I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea. Why don’t you start a migrant fighter league and hire your regular league fighters. And then have the champion of your league – these are the best fighters in the world – fight the migrant champion.'”

The audience could be heard laughing as Trump described his conversation with White about a migrant fighting league.

“I think the immigrant guy could win, that’s how tough they are. He didn’t like that idea very much, but actually it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had,” Trump joked. “These people are tough and they’re mean, nasty.”

Trump, 78, has long been a UFC fan and attended several fights during his campaign, including at UFC 302 in New Jersey earlier this month, shortly after he was found guilty in the hush money case.

White later confirmed to reporters during a press conference in Saudi Arabia that Trump had discussed the migrant fight club concept with him.

“I saw everyone freaking out online. But yes, he said it,” White later told reporters, stressing that it was “a joke.”

Trump spoke to the crowd for about an hour and a half during the conference at the Washington Hilton. He later campaigned and told the story before a boisterous crowd in Philadelphia.

“I said, ‘Dana, Dana, I have an idea that you can make a lot of money with,'” Trump recalled. “You’re going to start a new Migrant Fight League. … Migrants only. And then at the end of the year, the best migrant will fight your best. And I’m sorry to tell you, Dana, that I think the migrant could win. That’s how tough they are.”

“When I return to the White House, we will end the looting, rape, massacre and destruction of our American suburbs, cities and towns,” Trump later promised.

The 45th president has long portrayed himself as a hardliner on the issue of illegal immigration, making the issue a central theme during his 2016 candidacy with his loud call to “build the wall.”

Recently, Trump angered some anti-immigration activists with his proposal that foreign graduates of American universities and colleges should “automatically receive a green card as part of their diploma.”

In the past, he has called for the United States to move more toward a “merit-based” immigration system.

At the same time, Trump is taking a hard line on deporting all illegal immigrants currently living in the United States.

He also angered supporters of a more lenient approach with his inflammatory rhetoric against illegal immigrants, having previously compared them to “vermin” and warned that they would “poison the blood” of the country.

In addition, Trump is preparing for his own cage match later this week, where he will face President Biden in Atlanta on Thursday for the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election season.