Trump says he asked Dana White, UFC boss, to be his new White House press secretary

Donald Trump has offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the president said in a social media post on Saturday.

Trump described White, who staged a cage-fighting spectacle at the White House to mark the president’s 80th birthday in June, as “a violent Fighter and Warrior”, credentials unlike any ever used to describe previous press secretaries.

Trump added that he asked White, a vocal supporter who campaigned for him in 2024, to bring six UFC fighters with him to serve as press aides. “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote. “Dana, please take the job!”

It was initially unclear whether the job offer was part of an actual plan, or an attention-grabbing stunt from a president desperate to change the subject from the huge losses suffered by his party in elections this week.

There was no immediate response from White, who, some observers noted, might hesitate to leave a lucrative role running the UFC, which has earned him a fortune estimated to be in excess of $600m, for a job in government service that pays $195,000 a year.

Later on Saturday, after CNN reported that White had declined the offer and that one aide to the president had described it as a joke, White posted an Instagram story with an image of himself in the White House briefing room above the caption: “On to the next chapter.”

The UFC boss was then asked about the president’s post at a news conference after a boxing match in London on Saturday night. “I’m flying to Washington DC right now” to meet with Trump, White replied, without saying whether he would accept the job. “I’m going to meet with him, we have a meeting on Monday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that,” he added.

The president’s Truth Social post was illustrated by seven images, including what appeared to be an AI-generated image of White behind the presidential seal in a press room, and photographs of the six UFC fighters whom Trump fantasizes about deploying to deal with reporters who ask him awkward questions: Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov (who are both from a Muslim-majority region of Russia), Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison – whose last name was mistakenly rendered as “Harris” by the president.

In his post, Trump acknowledged that two of his dream hires, Makhachev and Nurmagomedov, are not Americans, but he did not mention that Nurmagomedov is reportedly close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, or that Makhachev has spoken out in defense of Palestinian civilians killed by Israel in Gaza. In 2023, Makhachev also celebrated a victory in one fight by saying, “Alhamdulillah,” the Arabic phrase for “praise be to God” used by Muslims. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed was criticized in the rightwing media for using that same Arabic phrase in his victory speech this week.

The first in a series of taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads broadcast by the White House in the run-up to the recent midterms closed with images of the UFC fight on Trump’s birthday and remarks about him from White, who could be heard saying: “He is the toughest, most resilient human being I have ever met in my life.” White used that formulation to describe Trump multiple times during the 2024 presidential election campaign, most notably to sing Trump’s praises at the Republican national convention.

The role of White House press secretary has been vacant for three weeks, since Trump’s previous pick, far-right commentator Katie Zacharia, was forced to resign after trying, and failing, to dodge questions about why she described herself as an attorney despite having failed the bar exam.

Henry Smith contributed reporting