Donald Trump seemed to brutally snub Cheryl Hines, the wife of Robert F Kennedy Jr., during Saturday’s UFC fight night. However, it has now emerged that all was not as it seemed.
The ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ star had stood alongside her husband – Trump’s secretary of health – as the president arrived at Kaseya Center in Miami and made his way to his seat for UFC 314 Saturday night.
Amid the chaos of his entrance, Trump went along a line of big names, meeting and greeting them – but while RFK Jr. himself got a hug, Hines was completely ignored.
The painfully awkward moment was caught on ESPN’s live TV coverage, with the famous actress appearing immediately embarrassed as she tried to brush off the incident.
She held her hand out to say hello to the president, only for him to turn away and leave her hand hanging in the air… in a scene more reminiscent of the TV show that made her famous.
However, a fresh image has now revealed another side to the story. Former senior RFK Jr. advisor Link Lauren suggested that the incident was a mere oversight on the president’s behalf, as he claimed Trump returned to greet Hines.
Cheryl Hines held her hand out to be shaken by president Donald Trump at UFC 314
She was completely snubbed by the president, who turned and walked away immediately
It has since emerged that the president returned to the seats to greet the actress
‘He went back to her,’ he wrote alongside a photo of Trump chatting to Hines and her husband later in the evening.
Hines’ publicist Ann Gurrola also told Fox that, while she did not attend the event and therefore could not comment, reports suggested that Trump circled back to shake Hines’ hand. She branded the moment ‘an oversight.’ The Trump administration also denied that the president snubbed Hines.
On the night, Trump greeted the likes of Dave Portnoy, Joe Rogan and others on his way to the UFC cage.
Hines is RFK Jr’s third wife, after Emily Black and the late Mary Richardson, they began dating in 2012, and now have houses in LA, Cape Cod and Washington DC.
They were first introduced by Larry David, Hines’ co-star on Curb Your Enthusiasm, the role for which she is most famous.
Trump was among the superstar names sitting cageside at UFC 314 in Miami, where MAGA fanatic Michael Chandler lost to England’s Paddy Pimblett.
Chandler backed the MAGA movement throughout the election cycle and this week reiterated his fandom of the Commander-in-Chief.
‘You’re talking about a couple months of a presidency,’ Chandler told Sporting News when asked to reflect on the tariff and trade war Trump has been waging.
Hines (right) holds hands with husband RFK Jr in the Oval Office of the White House
The pair started dating in 2012 (pictured in New York) and Hines is RFK Jr.’s third wife
‘I get it, there’s been a lot of crazy changes but it’s not really changes in the sense that we’re changing the fabric of the country.
‘We’re actually getting back to the way this country was founded, on accountability, on sovereignty, on American exceptionalism, on loving our country and loving our neighbor.
‘It’s going to make some waves, it’s going to crash the stock market a little bit for a moment, just like a thousand times in the past and we’ll see.
‘All I know is, the future looks bright and we’ve got to let things play out.’
On his visit to Miami, Trump was joined by his granddaughter Kai, Elon Musk, and an entourage of MAGA high-flyers.
The president boarded Air Force One in Palm Beach to make the short trip to Miami, where he then made a high-profile entrance to the arena, much to the delight of the crowd.
As he walked in, he was flanked by three of his grandchildren: Kai, 17, Donald J. Trump III, 16, and Spencer, 12.
UFC president Dana White was also alongside the president, who greeted Shaquille O’Neal and Joe Rogan en route to his seat before the main event got underway.
Joe Rogan received a big hug from the president before he took his seat at UFC 314
Trump took his cageside seat in between UFC chief Dana White and Elon Musk
The president was flanked by his grandchildren, Kai, 17, Donald J. Trump III, 16, and Tristan, 13
Elon Musk was also present, carrying his son X Æ A-12 – who was sporting ear protectors – on his shoulders.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Texas senator Ted Cruz also joined Trump. Meanwhile, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was also in attendance to celebrate her birthday with the group.
There was some doubt over the president’s attendance at the UFC event in Miami, amid a controversial week in which he has received heavy backlash for his ongoing tariff war.
Trump sent the stock market violently spiraling over his initial refusal to back down on his tariffs policy earlier this month before granting a 90-day reprieve for countries hit by higher US tariffs – except China, whose tariffs he raised to 145 percent.
Despite the pressure of his economic decisions, Trump ploughed on with his plans to attend the event in Miami, taking time out of his busy schedule for some more sport.
UFC 314 was just the latest in a string of sporting events the president has attended since taking office.
He jumped on Air Force One to attend the Super Bowl back in February, went to the Daytona 500 shortly after, and more recently was in the crowd at the NCAA men’s wrestling championships in Philadelphia.