Former President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match in Newark, New Jersey on June 2, 2024. The event came just two days after Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts in his New York 'hush money' trial.
Trump arrived at the Prudential Center at 10 p.m. and stayed until the event ended at 1:15 a.m., greeted by chants of 'We love Trump!' from the crowd.
Accompanied by UFC chief executive Dana White, Trump's appearance was designed as a reset following his conviction.
Trump's first video on TikTok, which he joined on June 2, featured him alongside White at the UFC match. The account gained over 2 million followers in less than 24 hours.
While in office, Trump attempted to ban TikTok due to its Chinese parent company but was unsuccessful. The Biden campaign also launched its own TikTok account earlier this year, presenting an opportunity for both campaigns to reach young voters.
Trump's attendance at the UFC match came after a renewed push against the app in Congress, which could lead to a ban from U.S. app stores if ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, did not sell it to an American company within a year.
Despite his previous stance on banning TikTok, Trump argued that doing so would benefit Facebook and expressed skepticism towards the claims of data sharing with China's government. TikTok has denied these allegations and filed a lawsuit against the legislation.