The Valente Brothers may have built their reputation on the mats, but their latest high-profile appearance suggests the Miami-based jiu-jitsu family has quietly earned a seat at one of the most exclusive tables in American politics.
Joaquim Valente, 39, joined his brothers Pedro and Guilherme at UFC Freedom 250, a marquee mixed martial arts event staged on the South Lawn of the White House during a celebration of President Donald Trump‘s 80th birthday.
The trio, who run the well-regarded Valente Brothers academy in Miami, did not merely attend as spectators. Photos posted to the academy’s Instagram account showed the brothers posing with Ivanka Trump, her children, and Jared Kushner beside the sprawling UFC structure erected for the occasion.
For Joaquim, the presence at the White House was perhaps less surprising to those who have been paying attention. He has trained Ivanka Trump in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the Valente Brothers academy, a detail the school’s own website highlights alongside a roster of notable clients that includes supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who is also Joaquim’s wife.
According to sources, the training relationship between Valente and Ivanka appears to have evolved into something more social. Earlier in 2025, the two women were spotted together on a yacht outing in Miami, accompanied by Valente and Bündchen’s daughter Vivian.
An unnamed source described Ivanka and Bündchen as having grown close quickly, saying the two were “hanging out like old pals.” The afternoon reportedly involved sunbathing, conversation, and salads, marking one of the first times the two had been publicly seen together.
That the Valente Brothers would find themselves woven into Trump’s orbit is a development shaped as much by proximity and personal connection as by any declared political stance. The academy’s client list has long bridged celebrity culture and elite social circles, and the jiu-jitsu mat, it turns out, can be a surprisingly effective place to forge lasting bonds.
Reflecting on the visit to the White House, Pedro Valente Jr. said, “It was a unique emotion to see where this sport has come,” adding that he could not help but think back to the tribute paid to Helio Gracie at UFC 1.
According to Valente, the family’s connection to the Trump circle grew through years of jiu-jitsu training, explaining, “We ended up creating a bond of friendship beyond the mats, which is why we were invited.”
He also claimed that the idea for a UFC event at the White House emerged from a conversation at the Valente Brothers academy, where he shared a historical story about President Theodore Roosevelt hosting a martial arts demonstration at the White House.
“Ivanka was impressed by this story,” Valente recalled, before stating that she later relayed it to President Trump, helping spark discussions that ultimately led to UFC Freedom 250.
Bündchen herself has navigated Trump-adjacent questions before. When Trump claimed during the 2016 election that NFL quarterback Tom Brady, Bündchen’s former husband, was a supporter, Bündchen pushed back through social media, denying that either of them had backed Trump at the time.
Now, years later and in a different chapter of her personal life, Bündchen’s current partner is photographed at a White House celebration organized around the president’s birthday, posing with the president’s daughter and son-in-law.
