Reporter says Trump looked like a ‘conquering Republican Caesar’ at UFC fight: ‘Like ancient Rome’

President-elect Donald Trump looked like a “conquering Republican Caesar” at the UFC event in New York City on Saturday, a reporter said on CNN.

Trump, making his first UFC appearance since beating Vice President Kamala Harris, walked into the Madison Square Garden event to cheers and chants of “USA, USA.” 

He was flanked by an entourage that included UFC President Dana White and Kid Rock, along with several people that will staff his administration, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. He was also joined by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

A panel on CNN analyzed the scene on Sunday, with The Bulwark reporter Marc Caputo saying Trump looked like a “conquering Republican Caesar.”

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“It really looks like ancient Rome here,” Caputo said. “This is sort of the conquering Republican Caesar who’s going into The Colosseum and everyone‘s cheering, and he‘s got his political gladiators with him,” Caputo said. “That appearance isn‘t just about him enjoying the applause. He‘s sending a message to the Senate. Like, not only, ‘are you entertained?’ But, ‘these are my people, and are you willing to fight? Because here‘s who I have.'”

Caputo also shared these thoughts on X, writing, “Like a Republican Caesar, Donald Trump appeared at the UFC with political allies —as thousands cheered— to send a gladiatorial message to the GOP-led Senate about his popularity with their base.”

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Joe Rogan, President-elect Donald Trump, Kid Rock and Elon Musk pose for a photo during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024, in New York City. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Other CNN panelists argued Trump seemed to be sending a defiant message to leaders in his party with his new cabinet picks.

“He’s really trying to say, I think, ‘I dare you to reject these people. I dare you to insist on a fuller vet than I’m willing to provide,'” New York Times congressional editor Julie Hirschfeld Davis said.

“He‘s flooded the zone with these picks and forced Republicans to choose,” New York Times reporter Astead Herndon added. “And I think it‘s interesting to me that he brought Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. to the UFC event last night. He is frankly giving, I think, support-based permission structure. He’s made these folks stars over the course of this campaign.”

“This is also just a person who won [by] following through on campaign promises. He promised retribution. He promised vengeance. And he promised these kinds of figures having prominent places in this administration, and he‘s delivering it. And for a lot of those supporters, that is the point of the Trump vote,” Herndon continued.

President-elect Trump was flanked by cabinet picks and elected officials during his appearance cageside at the UFC pay-per-view card in New York City on Saturday night. (Getty Images)

“And so I don’t think that’s the fullness of the electorate we saw on Tuesday. I think for a lot of people, they backed Trump probably as a rejection of the administration and weren‘t thinking of this as an endorsement of every single thing he’s talked about. But for the hardcore base, the folks he listens to the most, they voted for Trump for the purposes of RFK Jr. riling up Big Pharma, right? And so what they are going to force those Republican senators to do is make a choice on those calls, and they will be doing so with the backing of the electorate. I don’t think we can just say that they won’t get through. I will believe it when I see it,” the reporter concluded.

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Fox News’ Scott Thompson and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.