Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC fights in Miami as peace talks with Iran fail

Donald Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio attended a UFC event in Miami night on Saturday night as peace talks with Iran failed on the other side of the world.

Trump entered the Kaseya Center shortly after 9pm alongside several members of his family and UFC chief Dana White, who has been a supporter of the president since his first term. Seated nearby was Rubio as well as US ambassador to India Sergio Gor, the rapper Vanilla Ice and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino.

Despite his falling approval ratings and the unpopularity of the war with Iran among the American public, Trump was given a rousing greeting by the crowd as a Kid Rock song blasted in the background. The president shook hands with fans, smiled for cameras and greeted the UFC broadcast team, which included the influential podcaster Joe Rogan.

As Trump watched the evening’s fights, the US vice-president, JD Vance, was telling reporters that peace talks with Iran in Pakistan had failed. Trump did not show any signs the conflict in the Middle East was on his mind and was intent on the fighters in the cage, although he leaned over to talk to Rubio occasionally. At one point Rubio appeared to show the president something on his phone. After Paulo Costa defeated Azamat Murzakanov in the co-main event the fighter walked over to shake the president’s hand. Trump was gripped as Josh Hokit and Curtis Blaydes pummeled each other in a particularly bloody fight.

Members of the Trump family at the event included three of his children, Ivanka, Tiffany and Donald Jr. Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, was with Vance in Pakistan for the failed talks with Iran.

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watched Saturday’s fights in Miami. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AFP/Getty Images

Trump has long been a supporter of UFC – which has been credited with helping him build popularity among the promotion’s young, male fans – and has announced a fight event at the White House this summer to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary. The event will take place on 14 June, the president’s 80th birthday.

After Saturday’s event, White said a fight involving Hokit had been added to June’s card at the request of Trump.

“President Trump built half of that fight, Rogan built the other half,” White said in a video on social media. “Both guys have agreed and accepted the fight.”

During his comments to the media, Vance said he had spoken to Trump at least half a dozen times during the talks with Iran. The vice-president said a major stumbling block in the negotiations had been Iran’s refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions.

“We need to see an affirmative commitment that [Iran] will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” he said. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”