Trump floats UFC-style migrant league amid border crisis

Former President Donald Trump suggested in two speeches Saturday that migrants coming to the U.S. should have their own fighting league, remarking that they’re “nasty, mean” and “tough people” who could beat the country’s top fighters.

Speaking first to a crowd of conservative Christians at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gathering in Washington, D.C., Trump said he shared the idea with Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I said, ‘Dana I have an idea. Why don't you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league fighters,” Trump said, “and then you have the champion of your league — these are the greatest fighters in the world — fight the champion of the migrants.’” The suggestion drew laughter and applause from the crowd, a response that continued as he spoke more about the concept.

“I think the migrant guy might win,” Trump said, adding that White “didn’t like that idea too much.”

“But actually, it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had,” he continued.

Trump later repeated the idea during a rally Saturday evening in Philadelphia.

UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s rhetoric on Saturday was the latest in a longstanding series of remarks demonizing immigrants entering the country illegally, including previously calling them “vermin” and proclaiming they are “poisoning the blood” of America. But his comments come as voters overwhelmingly support securing the southern border, prompting President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats to propose tighter security measures at the border.

“Remember this, these migrants are tough. They're tough. They come from prisons and many other places, rough places,” Trump said. “They're just getting used to a country. They're just settling in.”

During his Faith & Freedom Coalition speech, he reiterated his plans to, if reelected, “begin the largest deportation operation in American history.” Earlier this week, Trump shared on a podcast his plan to provide green cards to any student who graduates from a U.S. college.

After Trump’s address, his supporters in the crowd largely brushed off his suggestion.

“He likes to tell jokes,” said Kevin McPherson. “This is expressing how some of these illegal immigrants coming [into] this country are hardened criminals. And he's trying to show that yes, there are criminals here.”

Another conference attendee, Bobbi Newman, said she didn’t hear Trump make the remark but would support the idea if Trump believed in it.