Trump returns to Madison Square Garden for UFC event as he ...

CNN  — 

President-elect Donald Trump is set to make his return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, visiting the New York City landmark arena for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

Trump’s trip to his hometown, and the arena where he held a controversial rally less than two weeks before Election Day, is an opportunity for the president-elect to revel in his victory with fans as his transition team pieces together his Cabinet nominees and fills out his incoming administration.

Dana White, the UFC president, is a long-time friend of Trump. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016, and did so again this year in Milwaukee, days after Trump survived an assassination attempt.

White’s support for Trump came as his campaign sought to appeal to young men who are irregular voters, and particularly to improve on Republicans’ traditionally poor share of Black and Latino men.

“I’m in the tough guy business, and this man is the toughest, most resilient human being that I’ve ever met in my life,” White said of Trump at the 2024 RNC.

White also attended Trump’s victory party in Palm Beach last week, where the president-elect discussed helping White secure venues early in his mixed martial arts enterprise’s existence.

“He’s the most resilient, hard-working men I’ve ever met in my life,” White said of Trump there.

Trump’s last visit to Madison Square Garden for a late October campaign rally proved controversial — particularly when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

At the time, the remark seemed like it could damage Trump’s chances of victory, particularly because the critical swing state of Pennsylvania has a large and fast-growing Puerto Rican population. However, CNN’s exit polls showed Trump bested Vice President Kamala Harris with Latino men nationally, and he won the Keystone State.