Trump picks Chris Wright to lead Energy Department ahead of UFC fight

President-elect Donald Trump walked out to a roaring standing ovation just ahead of the start of the UFC pay-per-view card at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, combining two things close to his heart: fierce battles inside the octagon and New York City.

Trump was accompanied by UFC President Dana White and the pair headed to their cageside seats to Kid Rock's “American Bad Ass." UFC aired a video package of Trump's road to the White House while fans stood and applauded. Trump, wearing a red tie, pumped his fist toward the crowd when the video ended.

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Trump also had his clenched fists pumping back and forth and briefly danced to the Village People’s “YMCA” just outside the cage.

Elon Musk, picked by Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., joined Trump and White at the Garden. Trump shook hands with the UFC broadcast team that included Joe Rogan. Rogan hosted Trump on his podcast.

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The MSG crowd chanted “USA! USA!” right before the main card was about to start. After a year delay, Stipe Miocic is getting his shot at a third heavyweight championship reign when he battles current champion Jon Jones in the main event at UFC 309.

A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades, before moving to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump boarded his plane for the flight to New York accompanied by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after his new administration begins on Jan. 20.

Trump's son, Don Jr., also attended the fight.

The trip to New York, where Trump lived for decades before moving to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, came after the president-elect announced his choice for energy secretary in his upcoming administration.

And it also followed by Musk calling for more direct public input into the decision-making process for another top post Trump is still mulling, the head of his new administration's Treasury Department.

Trump said that Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, was his selection to head the Energy Department. Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

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Musk, meanwhile, mused about the president-elect's yet-to-be-made treasury secretary choice — and invited people to use his social platform to weigh in.

“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback," Musk, who Trump has already tapped to co-lead a commission tasked with increasing government spending efficiency, posted Saturday on the X social media platform he owns.

Musk used the rest of his post to become the first participant in the public poll he was proposing. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Trump’s transition team, ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.

Musk said in his post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change."

“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change," he said.

Both Lutnick and Bessent have been mentioned as possible picks to lead the Treasury Department. Bessent is considered the more conventional, business-friendly choice. He is skeptical about cryptocurrency, while Lutnick has suggested it could be used for people to pay their taxes.

Trump's pick to lead his Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also endorsed Lutnick, posting on his own X account, “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans.”

“Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Lutnick's last name.

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Trump has already announced many picks for the new administration in recent days, including his choice for Secretary of State, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and attorney general, former Florida Rep . Matt Gaetz. Treasury is the most important slot he has left to fill, but the president-elect also has yet to announce choices for other roles, including the heads of the Education and Labor Departments.

Separately, Trump said that he'd picked a member of his legal team and former federal prosecutor, Will Scharf, as assistant to the president and White House staff secretary. Also Saturday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was at Mar-a-Lago to meet with the president-elect before Trump flew to New York for the UFC showdown.

Except for a day trip to Washington this week to meet for nearly two hours with President Joe Biden, and separately address House Republicans, Trump has been spending his time since his Election Day victory at Mar-a-Lago. The club has hosted galas and conservative events throughout the week.

In addition to being a fan of the sport, the president-elect has been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White for more than two decades.

White hosted a 2001 UFC battle at Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since – including during his 2024 campaign. Trump has turned up at fights recently with famous entourages, including White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.

In 2018, during Trump's first term, he and White starred in a UFC video where the then-president was called the “Combatant In Chief.”

As Trump has strengthened his grip on the national Republican Party over the last near-decade, White’s personal political profile has grown exponentially. White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions, and when the party gathered in Milwaukee this past July. He also addressed the crowd at Trump’s Florida victory party in the wee hours of the morning after Election Day.

“This is what happens when the machine comes after you,” White said then. “What you’ve seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like: couldn’t stop him. He keeps going forward. He doesn’t quit.”