President Donald Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach on Sunday, November 8, that he was "only kidding" when he offered UFC chief executive Dana White the job of White House press secretary a day earlier, closing down a day of speculation that his friend and longtime ally might really take over the briefing room.
"I will tell you, I was only kidding," Trump said, explaining that he had posted photographs of prominent UFC fighters as potential assistants to White as part of the joke. He said White "loves the idea" of taking the job, but insisted he had not been serious about the prospect, describing the suggestion as "just a little fun."
Trump said White would still visit him at the White House on Monday, but added that the meeting was planned for other reasons. The clarification leaves the press secretary's job open: it has been vacant since October 16, when Katie Zacharia left after five days in the role, and Karoline Leavitt, who held it before her, left at the end of August.
For ordinary Americans, the episode is a reminder that the face who would explain the administration's decisions to the country each day is still to be chosen, while the president's joke shows the lighter side of a White House in the middle of a wider shake-up after the Republicans' heavy losses in the midterm elections on November 3.
First posted on Instagram
Saturday, November 7, 2026
President Donald Trump said on Saturday, November 7, that he has offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, the president and chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and asked him to bring several of the sport's biggest stars with him as assistants.
Trump made the offer in a post on Truth Social, written from his golf club in Florida. "I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States," Trump wrote. "We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!"
Trump also asked White to bring several UFC fighters with him as assistants, naming Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison.
White has not said whether he will take the job. He responded on Instagram with a photograph of himself standing at the podium in the White House briefing room, captioned: "On to the next chapter." TMZ reported that White intends to discuss the opening with Trump in person on Monday.
The White House has not confirmed the offer beyond the president's own post, and it was not immediately clear whether the proposal was serious. The New York Post noted signs the post may have been tongue-in-cheek, and Mediaite characterized the request for fighters as a joke. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung cheered the idea on X, writing: "Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite! It'll just be like old times!"
The press secretary's job has been vacant since October 16, when Katie Zacharia left after five days in the role. Karoline Leavitt, who held the job before her, left at the end of August. The offer came a day after Trump announced that Stephen Miller would replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, in a wider shake-up after the Republicans' heavy losses in the midterm elections on November 3.
White, 57, is a longtime friend of the president and was with him when he declared victory on election night in November 2024. In June, the UFC staged UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House. Weeks after the 2024 election, White told The New Yorker he wanted nothing to do with politics.
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