Trump Publicly Offers UFC's Dana White the Press Secretary Job; White Says They Meet Monday

President Donald Trump says he has offered the White House press secretary job to UFC CEO Dana White. He announced it Saturday, Nov. 7, in a Truth Social post written from his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"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. "Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!"

Whether the offer is serious is still unclear.

White's response: a meeting, not a yes

White was in London on Saturday promoting a Zuffa Boxing card at the Copper Box Arena. Asked about the post at a news conference, he said he was flying to Washington and would meet Trump on Monday.

"I got a lot of jobs already," White said, laughing. "We have a meeting on Monday, so I'm sure we'll have more to talk about after that." He declined to describe any earlier conversations with Trump.

Before the news conference, White posted an image on Instagram of himself behind the lectern in the White House briefing room, captioned "On to the next chapter." NBC News noted the image appears to be AI-generated. He also shared a screenshot of Trump's post.

CNN, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that White has declined the idea. White's own public comments do not say that. The White House and a UFC spokesperson did not respond Saturday to messages seeking comment.

The fighters

Trump asked White to bring "assistants, even though some are not from our Country." He named Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and "Kayla Harris." Al Jazeera read the last name as a likely reference to Kayla Harrison.

"We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left," Trump wrote.

Makhachev and Nurmagomedov are from Russia's Dagestan region. Nunes is Brazilian-born and became a U.S. citizen last year, according to Al Jazeera. No one has said what roles the fighters would hold or whether any has been asked.

White House communications director Steven Cheung reposted the message on X: "Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite! It'll just be like old times!" Cheung worked for the UFC from 2013 to 2016.

A job that has been empty since Oct. 16

Karoline Leavitt left the podium at the end of August, saying she wanted to spend more time with her young family. Trump has called her one of his "most trusted aides," and she continues to advise him.

Her successor, Katie Zacharia, lasted five days. Trump said on Oct. 16 that he asked her "is this for you?" after her only briefing. In roughly six minutes at the lectern she took questions from just three conservative outlets, according to CNBC.

Leavitt told Fox News Digital that Trump needs a "fighter" in the job and that she is advising him on picking another successor. Trump also floated rapper Nicki Minaj for the role in an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson.

A White House in transition

The offer comes four days after Democrats won both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms. The wins included districts Republicans had held for decades.

On Friday, Trump announced that Stephen Miller, the architect of his hard-line immigration policy, will replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff. Wiles was seen as a moderating influence on the president.

White's qualifications are mostly about running a business. He leads a global fight league that CBS News puts at a value above $15 billion. He also runs Power Slap and Zuffa Boxing, which is backed by Saudi investors, and he sits on Meta's board.

He has a long record of public combat with reporters. In 2020 he released a clip attacking journalists who questioned the UFC's decision to hold fights during the pandemic. In 2009 he put out an expletive-filled video that used an anti-gay slur to rebut a reporter's story about backstage credentials.

The case for White is mostly personal. He and Trump have known each other since 2001, when Trump's Taj Mahal casino hosted a UFC event. White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions and introduced Trump at the 2024 convention. In June the UFC staged Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn, which coincided with Trump's 80th birthday.

In a 60 Minutes interview last year, White said he and Trump "don't talk politics" at dinner and talk about "Rocky" movies and fights instead.

Name confusion online

The announcement also set off a joke online that Trump meant Dana W. White, a former Pentagon public affairs official. Hedge fund founder Spencer Hakimian posted a video saying he would "guarantee 100%" that someone recommended her and Trump mixed them up. That is a joke. No one with knowledge of the offer has said so.

Trump's wording was also off. The job is White House press secretary, not "Press Secretary of the United States."

What comes next

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, at the White House. It will settle whether Trump's post was a real offer, and whether White's "next chapter" post was a joke or an acceptance. White has not said whether he wants the job, and it has now been empty for more than three weeks.