Dave Portnoy snaps back at critics after taking heat for Trump hug at UFC 314 days after slamming tariffs

Dave Portnoy has defended greeting Donald Trump during Saturday’s UFC fight night, despite hitting out at the president’s tariff policy.

The Barstool Sports founder received a 10-second audience with Trump at UFC 314 when the president made his grand entrance at the Kaseya Center at the weekend.

The 78-year-old made a high-profile entrance at the MMA showdown arriving with three of his grandchildren before making his way along a line of big names, meeting and greeting them – Portnoy among them.

Portnoy shook Trump’s hand and hugged him before the pair shared a few words, with the 48-year-old later revealing that he told the Commander-in-Chief that he was a fan of his water pressure policy.

However, the interaction raised eyebrows as it came just days after Portnoy was publicly critical of another policy of the president: His tariffs.

Portnoy has broadly supported Trump since the election, but also took aim at him last week over the ongoing tariff chaos wreaking havoc on the stock markets.

Dave Portnoy has defended greeting Donald Trump during Saturday’s UFC fight night

The president made a high-profile arrival at the Kaseya Center, greeting many big names

The Barstool Sports founder was among those to receive a handshake from Trump

Yet, the sports media personality hit back at his critics this week, defending his political flipflopping.

‘Trump I saw. I told him I liked the water pressure,’ Portnoy began as he detailed the interaction on Monday’s episode of the Barstool Rundown. ‘I’m like, “I love the water pressure.” He loved that. And then the guy who loves Hitler lost, so that was a win for me. That was a win all across. Always a great night at UFC.’

However, Portnoy went on to share that he and Barstool employee Robbie Fox were booed by the UFC audience when they were shown on the jumbotron to which his co-hosts Dan Katz (Barstool Big Cat) and Kevin Clancy (KFCBarstool) were quick to claim was due to his recent criticism of Trump.

But Portnoy fired back: ‘I’m getting people saying, “You’re such a scumbag. You said if the economy tanks in the next four years, you’d go Democrat.” Like I’m the only one in the world who cares about the economy?’

Portnoy has been vocal about his financial hits due to the stock market dips brought about by Trump’s controversial tariffs, and this week even revealed he’d consider ditching Trump for the Democrats if America’s economy doesn’t show major improvements soon.

He admitted earlier this month that he ‘didn’t understand’ them, but was down a staggering $7million as a result. Last week, Portnoy revealed he’d actually lost close to $20m.

He went on to say that he lost 20 percent of his net worth and slammed Trump for going golfing last weekend in Florida while the country’s economy was in turmoil.

Portnoy and Trump share a hug as the president arrives to watch UFC 314 Saturday night

Asked if he’d be willing to abandon Trump and the GOP , Portnoy responded: ‘Yeah, absolutely.

‘I was never some crazy MAGA guy. It’s uncomfortable anytime the stock market is like this and you’re invested in it, it’s certainly uncomfortable. But I stand with it.

‘You know, he ran on tariffs. He said he was a tariff fan. And I don’t pretend to be an economist. I don’t think I realized that we’d have this market crash. I don’t think most people did.’

Portnoy continued: ‘I think he believes in what he’s doing and trying to basically strong-arm China and get better deals for the US. I’m willing to still give him time.

‘I think the big date is the midterms, which is a long time out. But I do think that in this country, the number one issue, no matter what is going on, is the economy. And if the stock market doesn’t show some signs of rebound or rebounding by then, I think people will speak with their vote.’

On the podcast, Portnoy revealed that Shaquille O’Neal and even members of Trump’s cabinet asked him about his losses at UFC 314

Portnoy had chatted with the NBA legend and Bruce Buffer between fights at Kaseya Center, and revealed his fandom for British fighter Paddy Pimblett.

And Portnoy’s pick emerged victorious in the penultimate fight of the evening, defeating American Michael Chandler in a knockout win.

Trump, meanwhile, brought Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Elon Musk, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and granddaughter Kai Trump with him, among others.