Trump says he offered White House press secretary job to UFC chief Dana White

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, 7 November 2026, that he had offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White. White is chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social.

"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, according to France 24. The BBC quoted the post as adding: "Dana, please take the job!"

Trump also asked White to bring some assistants with him, "even though some are not from our country," according to Reuters. The BBC, The Hindu and the SCMP reported that these assistants were UFC fighters. The post featured or named six fighters. France 24 and The Hindu identified them as Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, both from Russia's Dagestan region; Americans Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and "Kayla Harris", which both outlets describe as likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and Amanda Nunes, a Brazilian native who became a US citizen last year. Their reports use nearly identical wording.

The press secretary post is vacant. Katie Zacharia left it on 16 October, after less than a week in the role. According to DW, she left after a shaky debut press briefing.

After Trump's post, White posted a photo of himself behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room. The caption read "On to the next chapter". France 24 reported that White did not explicitly accept the job and that the photo was possibly AI-generated. The BBC said it was unclear whether White's post was tongue-in-cheek and whether the offer was genuine. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that nobody in the White House immediately confirmed the announcement. According to France 24, the White House published a screenshot of Trump's post on one of its official accounts.

White and Trump are longtime friends. The UFC held a cage match on the White House lawn this summer. France 24 reported it took place on the South Lawn in June, on Trump's 80th birthday. According to the BBC, White spoke for Trump's campaigns at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The BBC also reported that White has at times clashed with journalists, including in videos released in 2009 and 2020.

The BBC noted that the post came after Republicans lost their congressional majorities in the US midterm elections. The BBC did not describe any link between the two.

What each side says

• Donald Trump says he has offered White the job and wants fighters as assistants. "We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left," he wrote, according to The Hindu. "Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other," he wrote, according to SCMP.
• Dana White posted the briefing-room photo but, according to France 24, did not explicitly accept. According to the BBC, he credits Trump with saving the UFC by hosting two events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in 2001, when mainstream arenas would not take the organisation.

What remains unclear

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say whether White has formally accepted or declined. They do not establish whether his photo is authentic. They include no comment from the UFC or its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, and no White House press office statement.

Analysis

The announcement leaves basic questions open: whether the offer is formal, whether White intends to accept, and whether his post was meant seriously. If the offer proceeds, observers may focus on how a sports executive with a reported history of clashes with reporters would manage daily briefings. The suggestion of fighters as assistants, some of them not US citizens, could raise eligibility questions that the reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not address. Alternatively, the exchange may remain a public gesture between longtime friends. Formal statements from the White House or White would be needed to clarify which scenario applies.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.