Donald Trump offers White House press secretary job to UFC CEO Dana White

U.S. President Donald Trump offered the open White House press secretary position to UFC chief executive Dana White in a social media post on Saturday.

"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 in a post on his Truth Social platform. "I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris," Trump added. "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! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

"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 in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris," Trump added. "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! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Trump name-dropped several UFC fighters that White could presumably bring with him to the White House podium to interact with reporters. However, he mistyped the name of Kayla Harrison, arguably the top women's fighter in the world . A two-time Olympic gold medalist and UFC bantamweight champion, Harrison will defend her title at next week's UFC 334 event at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The White House has not officially responded to Trump's post, creating some uncertainty as to whether or not this was a serious invitation, according to the Associated Pres s .

White, in London for Saturday's Zuffa Boxing 12 event , also has not directly responded to the president's announcement. However, he posted a screen shot of Trump's announcement on an Instagram story, along with an image of himself at the podium of the White House press briefing room with the caption, "On to the next chapter."

Trump and White have known each other for at least 25 years

The relationship between the U.S. president and White dates back to 2001, when Trump's Taj Mahal hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey hosted a UFC event. At the time, New Jersey was one of the few states that sanctioned UFC cards, which were banned in 36 states.

Since then, the two have developed a friendship as Trump has attended several UFC events over the past 25 years — including four as sitting U.S. president. White introduced Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention, in addition to speaking at the 2016 and 2020 events.

The most public display of the Trump-White partnership was the UFC Freedom 250 event that was held on the South Lawn of the White House in June. The main event of that card was an upset win by UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje , whose name was referenced in Trump's Truth Social post.

UFC holding an event at the White House raised White's already high profile , resulting in interviews with NPR, Rolling Stone and the New Yorker, and an appearance on the cover of Time magazine. White defended Trump in those interviews and implied that he had an advisory role during the 2024 presidential campaign.

The press secretary position became open just over two weeks ago when Katie Zacharia resigned after only five days on the job . Previously a conservative commentator and advisor for the company that runs Truth Social, Zacharia received immediate scrutiny after an initial press briefing that lasted only five minutes, followed by questions over whether she was actually a lawyer , as claimed.

Zacharia took over for Karoline Leavitt, who left the press secretary role in August following the birth of her second child. During Leavitt's maternity leave, other officials in the Trump administration held press briefings, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.