Dana White 'Refused' To Follow Orders During White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting

UFC president Dana White was in attendance at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday evening.

Shots were fired inside of the building. A suspected gunman charged through a security checkpoint at last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE," President Trump posted to Truth Social Sunday.

He added: "This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough! While beautiful, it has every highest level security feature there is plus, there are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in, and is inside the gates of the most secure building in the World, The White House."

President Trump's close friend, Dana White, was in attendance. He spoke to the media afterwards. He says that he refused to follow orders, as everyone was implored to get down on the ground.

"I didn't get down, it was (expletive) awesome. I literally took every minute of it in. It was a pretty crazy, unique experience," he said.

White faced backlash for his comments

"He knows that wasn't part of the planned entertainment, right?" one wrote.

"Seriously? Awesome?" one fan added.

"Kind of a weird way to react to a shooting," one shared.

At least everyone ended up being OK, of course, but it's a weird way to react to a shooting, that's for sure.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 8:36 AM.