
Despite the cancellation, the US President and the UFC boss want to meet on Monday
AI-generated summary
The speaker's position in the White House has been vacant for weeks. Katie Zacharia took over the position in October but left after just a few days.
On Saturday, Trump reached out to White at Truth Social and asked him to take the job. White should also bring six UFC fighters with him as “assistants” to protect him from the “crazy leftists,” said Trump (more on that here). The president later published a short cartoon on his online network in which White and some of his fighters clashed with journalists in the White House press room.
White as Trump's press secretary? This idea has been making a lot of headlines and a lot of ridicule since Trump's post (more on that here). Now Trump said White loves the idea of being press secretary. But, Trump told reporters: "I'm telling you, it was just a joke."
Trump and White still want to meet on Monday
White himself said on Saturday that he would fly to Washington and meet with Trump on Monday. "After that I'll be able to say more about it." The UFC boss also published a photo - probably AI-generated - in his Instagram stories that showed him behind the lectern in the press room of the White House. The caption said: “On to the next chapter”.
The speaker's position in the White House has been vacant for weeks. Katie Zacharia, who was appointed in October, left the position after just a few days (more on that here).
White is known as a fan of dramatic language. He also often uses vulgar swear words in interviews, podcasts and press conferences. White has excellent relations with the US President, has appeared at numerous campaign events in the past and regularly invites the staunch UFC fan Trump to major martial arts events. You can read the SPIEGEL portrait of UFC boss Dana White here.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Trump and Dana White will meet in Washington on Monday.
Very likely · Within days
US President Donald Trump has described his offer of the vacant White House spokesman position to UFC boss Dana White as a joke. At the same time, in a “60 Minutes” interview, he signaled a change of course in migration policy and called mass deportations “too harsh.” He also commented on the scandal surrounding Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.

After winning the congressional elections, US Democrats are planning impeachment proceedings against ministers and corruption investigations against family members of President Donald Trump. Robert Garcia announced interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner. Impeachment proceedings against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and possible proceedings against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are also on the table. In the Senate, Republicans have a majority of 53 of the 100 seats.

In addition to the sea blockade, the USA wants to cut off further delivery routes to Iran. The US regional command Centcom formed a task force called “Iron Gate” to prevent arms deliveries over land and the Caspian Sea. President Donald Trump declared the task force active. The aim is to stop Iranian oil exports and technology that can be used for military purposes.

Lower Saxony's deputy head of government Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) criticizes CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner for his statements about criminal clan members. Lechner had demanded to see them lying on the ground, which Hamburg describes as a verbal derailment.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz proposes the Bavarian state parliament president Ilse Aigner as a candidate for federal president. The CSU and SPD already support them. The Federal Assembly will decide on the successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier on January 30th.

The chairman of the Union parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, has rejected a plastic tax on plastic packaging. If the tax does not come, around 670 million euros in expected tax revenue will be missing from the 2027 federal budget. The SPD expressed more caution and referred to ongoing coalition consultations.