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

Dana White flies to Washington for face-to-face talks with Donald Trump

UFC chief executive Dana White is heading to Washington, D.C. for a face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss an offer to become the next White House press secretary. While CNN reported that White had declined the offer, the 57-year-old combat sports boss addressed reporters in London ahead of a boxing match and confirmed his travel plans, stating: I'm flying to Washington D.C. right now. Asked how he could balance the job with his existing workload, White offered a brief reply: Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already, leaving open whether he would ultimately take the post.

That immediate travel follows a public recruitment pitch made by President Trump on Truth Social on Saturday. While Trump was at his golf club in Florida, he paired the unusual offer with an order for the Justice Department to investigate his opponents. Writing on Saturday afternoon, Trump posted images of growling UFC fighters alongside one of White standing behind a podium in a suit, urging the longtime fight promoter to accept the position with the exclamation, Dana, please take the job!

Truth Social Pitch and Fighter Assistants

In his social media statement, Trump went beyond simply offering the job to White, requesting that the executive bring assistants with him to Washington, naming Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris, and acknowledging that some are not from our Country.

Trump framed the unconventional lineup as a defensive measure for his administration. We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left, Trump wrote, praising White as the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also weighed in publicly, reposting the message and writing: Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!

US political analyst Calvin Dark suggested the announcement might not be a traditional staffing maneuver. I wouldn't put it past Donald Trump on a Saturday afternoon to want to steal a headline or two by suggesting something facetious, and Dana White could politely refuse, and it wouldn't be anything bad, Dark said.

White earlier shared an image of him behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room on his Instagram Stories — possibly AI-generated — with the caption, On to the next chapter, before later reposting Trump's message without formally accepting or declining.

Midterm Fallout and Justice Department Orders

The aggressive posture on Saturday came a day after Trump appointed Stephen Miller to be his next chief of staff, describing the combative senior adviser as a great fighter. It follows a blowout defeat in the midterm elections this week, in which Democrats seized both the House of Representatives and the Senate. With control of both chambers when they take office in January, Democrats are promising robust investigations of Trump and top officials. In response, Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats for extortion at the highest level and called for prison terms, writing that imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS.

That defiant strategy echoes the war-like posture Trump announced after a smaller midterm defeat in 2018, which preceded his impeachments in 2019 and 2021. This time, incoming Democrats are preparing to deploy committee powers to summon officials, demand documents, and hold public hearings scrutinizing government contracts involving billionaire Elon Musk, the Trump family business and cryptocurrency dealings, cuts to federal agencies, immigration enforcement, the handling of files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the conduct of the Iran war. Lawyer up, wrote incoming House Oversight Committee chairman Robert Garcia on X as results became clear on election night.

If White formally accepts the role, he will have his work cut out for him navigating a radically transformed and hostile political landscape. While the House needs only a simple majority to impeach the president, removing him requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, far beyond the Democratic majority.

The Turmoil That Created the Vacancy

The urgency behind Trump's overture to White stems from communications issues in October. The press secretary office has lacked a permanent occupant since October 16, when Katie Zacharia departed after serving just five days on the job. That brief and difficult tenure included a pair of Fox News interviews and a sole press briefing that lasted just 15 minutes. Vice President JD Vance reportedly broke the news to her during an interview.

The White House press secretary acts as the chief federal spokesperson for the executive branch, conducting regular media briefings and managing the administration's public messaging. The position holds immense political weight, particularly during legislative battles and electoral campaigns. Historically filled by seasoned career communications professionals or political press aides, the office has seen rapid turnover under the current administration. Her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, left to spend more time with her family and was widely regarded as a competent and calm communicator. Shortly before the midterm elections, a couple of staffers had floated Nicki Minaj as an option for the seat.

A Longstanding Alliance Forged in the Octagon

The relationship between Trump and White stretches back more than two decades, originating when Trump hosted early, unsanctioned UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City when mainstream venues refused to stage mixed martial arts bouts. The US leader has often tried to associate his MAGA brand of politics with the hugely popular UFC. When Trump won reelection in 2024, White appeared alongside the Republican for his victory speech. On his 80th birthday in June, the UFC held a bloody cage match on the White House South Lawn to mark both America's 250th independence celebrations and the president's birthday. Since winning his second White House term, Trump has also attended bouts in Miami, New York, and New Jersey.

White has spoken in prime-time slots at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020, and 2024. While he has previously dismissed the idea of political office, he remains committed to his roles as CEO of UFC, the largest and most successful company in the world of mixed martial arts whose violent cage fights are broadcast across the globe, as well as a major stakeholder in TKO Group Holdings and working to expand his emerging boxing company, Zuffa.