In his final financial disclosure report released after departing office, former president Donald Trump declared the UFC championship belt that was given to him by Colby Covington.
The report, obtained by The New York Times, lists the championship belt under “gifts and travel reimbursements” and values it at $650. The belt, which was presumably given to him by Covington during their Oval Office meeting in August 2018, carries the same value as the replica belts sold in the UFC’s online store.
During the reportedly hour-long Oval Office visit in 2018, Covington posed alongside Trump and UFC President Dana White, who was also in attendance that day. Covington later claimed to have given Trump his actual belt during the meeting.
“Trump was really cool,” Covington, part troll, part conservative mouthpiece, said in 2019. “He kept calling me ‘Champ’. As soon as I gave him the belt he tried to give it back to me. I told him ‘No, Mr President this belt is for you. You are the champion of the American people. You are making this country great again.’”
It is worth noting that Trump’s financial disclosure report also highlighted a steep decline in Trump Organization revenues. The organization declared revenue of at least $278 million in 2020, which is approximately a 38 percent decline from the company’s reported 2019 results. Much of the decline can be attributed to the pandemic, which significantly impacted his luxury hospitality businesses, including his hotels and golf resorts.
The Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection also played a role in diminishing the Trump family business. The scenes of rioters and domestic terrorists storming the Capitol after being incited by Trump’s speech moments earlier has caused several organizations to distance themselves from the Trump brand. This includes the PGA, which announced it would strip Trump’s New Jersey golf club of the 2022 PGA championship.
While the disclosure report provides interesting insight into the former president’s finances, it is fitting that Covington, who spent the vast majority of Trump’s tenure in office as the athletic embodiment of the MAGA ideology, is mentioned in one of Trump’s final acts as commander-in-chief.
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