Trump expected to attend UFC fight Saturday night in New York
President Donald Trump is expected to attend a UFC match at Madison Square Garden in New York City Saturday night, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to CNN.
The main card of the bout, Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz, begins at 10 p.m. ET.
“He likes fist fights,” a Trump adviser said about the President’s affection for the UFC.
This is Trump’s first trip to his home state after asserting that his Florida resort is now the President’s “predominant and principal home.”
Since taking office, he has spent 99 days at his Mar-a-Lago club compared to only 20 days spent at Trump Tower in New York City, according to CNN’s count. That makes his time spent in Florida five times more than his time spent in New York.
The Associated Press first reported Trump’s weekend plans.
The President also frequently spends time at his golf club in New Jersey and has said that staying in New York is “expensive” and “disruptive.” Trump’s weekend New York trip will coincide with the New York City Marathon, which snakes through each of the city’s five boroughs Sunday morning.
Trump changed his permanent residence to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, in late September, and first lady Melania Trump followed suit in October, in forms filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
In a series of tweets Thursday night, Trump said he was leaving New York because he’s been “treated very badly” by politicians in the Empire State.
“1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, is the place I have come to love and will stay for, hopefully, another 5 years as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, but my family and I will be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence,” Trump tweeted.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway defended the move, saying the President, “can’t understand why the tax burden has become so confiscatory and so upside-down.”
“He said very clearly yesterday he’s been treated very unfairly. But he speaks for many taxpayers who have been treated unfairly in New York,” she told reporters at the White House.
According to CNN’s count, since taking office Trump has spent 307 days at a Trump property and 239 days at a Trump golf club.
Trump has spent the bulk of his time at Trump Tower in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. Trump spends the large majority of his time in Mar-a-Lago on the weekends and holidays.
