Trump’s pro-Anheuser-Busch publish got here after UFC boss Dana White urged him to again firm, supply says

Former President Donald Trump wrote a social media publish earlier within the week asking his supporters to present Anheuser-Busch a “second likelihood” after UFC president Dana White personally requested him to again the beer firm, a supply advised CNBC.

Anheuser-Busch final yr suffered a serious backlash over its Bud Light advertising promotion with a transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney.

White, whose UFC is the main combined martial arts promotion, reached out on to Trump to encourage optimistic commentary about Anheuser-Busch, in keeping with the supply, who was conversant in the state of affairs.

In his Truth Social publish on Tuesday, Trump gave the impression to be well-informed about detailed points of the beer firm’s operations.

He famous that the corporate spends $700 million a yr “with our GREAT Farmers,” employs 65,000 People and has supplied scholarships to households of fallen members of the army. Trump wrote, “Anheuser-Busch is a GREAT American model that maybe deserves a Second Likelihood?”

UFC, which is owned by TKO Group Holdings, in October introduced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch to make Bud Mild the official beer companion of the combined martial arts firm, in a deal that was reported on the time to be value $100 million.

In a press launch saying the deal, White mentioned, “There are various the explanation why I selected to go together with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Mild, most significantly as a result of I really feel we’re very aligned relating to our core values and what the UFC model stands for.”

A spokesman for UFC declined to touch upon White’s dialog with Trump. A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch didn’t reply to a request for remark.

In his social media publish on Tuesday, Trump threatened to launch a listing of firms – apart from Anheuser-Busch – that he considers to be “woke.”

“Am constructing a listing, and would possibly simply launch it for the World to see,” Trump wrote. His followers, Trump prompt, must be “going after these firms that want to DESTROY AMERICA!”

“These feedback got here after Trump in a social media publish on Sunday was way more essential of the corporate, saying: “the Bud Mild advert will go down because the WORST AD in historical past.”

“In a matter of minutes 30 billion {dollars} value of market cap merely disappeared from the face of the earth. Will they ever get it again? Who is aware of, however what a multitude!” Trump wrote.

Trump, who’s the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, attended UFC’s Dec. 16 occasion in Las Vegas, the place he walked out into the viewers with White and the musical artist Child Rock.

Trump had attended two different UFC occasions beforehand in 2023, and had been at different of the promotion’s occasions in prior years.