Trump Offers Dana White the White House Press Secretary Job, With a Monday Meeting Set

President Donald Trump has publicly offered the job of White House press secretary to UFC chief executive Dana White, an announcement that stands out even by the standards of a president known for breaking political norms. White says the two will meet on Monday, but nobody outside their circle knows whether the offer is serious.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social on Saturday from his golf club in Florida. He called White “a violent Fighter and Warrior” and wrote: “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!” He also asked White to bring along several UFC fighters as “assistants”, naming Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harris. He acknowledged that “some are not from our Country” and said, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left.”

How Dana White responded

White was in London for a boxing event when the post went up. He shared Trump’s message on Instagram alongside an image of himself behind the lectern in the White House briefing room, captioned “On to the next chapter”. It was not clear whether he meant it as a joke. At a news conference afterwards he said he was flying to Washington and had a meeting with Trump on Monday. According to AP, he seemed confused when asked how he would balance the role with his current jobs. “I got a lot of jobs already,” he said, adding that he was sure there would be more to discuss after the meeting.

He has plenty to balance. Besides running the UFC, White leads Power Slap and has just launched Zuffa Boxing, which AP says he runs with Saudi Arabian backers. He also sits on the board of Meta. CNN, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that White had declined the idea. White himself has not said so publicly. White House communications director Steven Cheung, meanwhile, cheered the idea on X.

A vacancy at the centre of a shaken White House

The role has been empty for some time. NPR reports that Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August. Trump then tried out Katie Zacharia, who quit less than five days into the job in mid-October after a single, uneasy appearance before reporters. Since then the president has had no chief spokesperson.

The offer comes at a turbulent moment. Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, including in areas they had held for decades. On Friday, Trump announced he was replacing chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was seen as a tempering influence, with Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies. Whoever fills the White House press secretary post would be the public face of an administration in the middle of that reset.

A long friendship, and a few caveats

White’s closeness to Trump is well documented. He credits Trump with helping save the UFC in 2001, when Trump hosted two of its events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City while mainstream venues shunned the sport. White spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024 and appeared on stage for Trump’s 2024 victory speech. In June, the UFC staged a card on the White House South Lawn to mark America’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 80th birthday.

Still, the job is a very different proposition from the cage. The press secretary deals with reporters daily, and White has a combative record with the media. He has publicly attacked journalists over coverage of the UFC, including a 2020 clip criticising reporters who questioned holding fights during the pandemic. In 2009 he released an expletive-laden video tirade that included an anti-gay slur.

Al Jazeera also noted a side thread on social media. Some users speculated that the administration may have meant to name a more experienced Black woman who shares the same name. That is online speculation, and none of the other sources back it up. The White House and a UFC spokesperson did not respond to AP’s requests for comment on Saturday.

For now, the only firm fact is the Monday meeting. Whether it produces a new White House press secretary or just a friendly catch-up between two longtime allies is still an open question.

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File photo: Dana White in June 2025 (cropped).jpg by Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.