Trump and Some of His Cabinet Members Attend U.F.C. Fight in Miami

Politics|Trump and Some of His Cabinet Members Attend U.F.C. Fight in Miami

President Trump, some of his cabinet members and his adviser Elon Musk sat ringside in Miami late Saturday night at the Ultimate Fighting Championship event — a spectacle of violence, throbbing music and cheering crowds that the president has long admired.

It’s the second U.F.C. event that Mr. Trump has attended since he was elected for a second time in November, and the first of his presidency. Unlike World Wrestling Entertainment events, U.F.C. matches aren’t staged.

Mr. Trump has been a fan of U.F.C. fights for years. He attended one in late 2019 in New York City during his first presidency. And he brought the chief executive of U.F.C., Dana White, onstage to speak during his victory speech on election night in 2024.

But the scene on Saturday was emblematic of a president who is increasingly emboldened, brazen and encouraging of displays of force to carry out his agenda, particularly on immigration and crime.

Mr. Trump and two of his older children walked into the Kaseya Center to the booming sounds of the Kid Rock song “American Bad Ass” and to sustained, thunderous applause from the crowd. He sat next to Mr. Musk, who had brought one of his 14 children. They sat with the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel; Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former senator from Florida; the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines. Also in the Trump entourage was Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas.

When Mr. Trump first arrived, he tried to shake Mr. Kennedy’s hand; Mr. Kennedy was looking in the other direction. Mr. Trump then walked past the outstretched hand of Ms. Hines, moving his gaze past her entirely despite appearing to see her.