President Trump said Sunday evening that his public offer of the White House press secretary job to UFC boss Dana White was nothing more than a joke. Trump addressed the uproar while preparing to leave Florida after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
“I will tell you, I was only kidding,” Trump told reporters. “Dana loves the idea. There’s only one Dana. You wouldn’t mess around with him so much. So, I was kidding, of course.”
The explanation came one day after Trump used Truth Social to announce that White had supposedly been offered the prominent White House role. The post quickly caused a stir, especially because Trump also proposed surrounding White with a formidable group of UFC fighters.
“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 Saturday.
Trump suggested that White, a Connecticut native, bring six well-known UFC figures with him as assistants. The proposed lineup included Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump concluded. “Dana, please take the job!”
White, 57, was set to meet privately with Trump at the White House on Monday. The combat sports executive declined to comment on the supposed job offer while attending a boxing event in London over the weekend.
Trump and White have a close relationship, and the president has attended several major UFC events during his presidency. White also organized a special “Freedom 250” card on the White House South Lawn on June 14.
That event was part of a summer of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The spectacle brought White and his combat sports organization directly onto the White House grounds as part of the anniversary festivities.
The latest episode comes as Trump searches for his third press secretary this year. Karoline Leavitt departed the position in August, while Katie Zacharia followed with a short and unhappy tenure that lasted only five days last month.
Trump’s Truth Social announcement briefly appeared to offer an answer to that personnel search, albeit an unconventional one. By Sunday evening, however, the president was making clear that the UFC boss was not actually being recruited to handle questions from the White House press corps.
Another theory surfaced during the weekend as people tried to determine whether Trump had confused the UFC executive with Dana W. White. She served as a top Pentagon spokeswoman during Trump’s first term.
“To everyone texting me congratulations: thank you, but you have the wrong Dana White,” the other White wrote Saturday in a LinkedIn post. Her response leaned into the unusual confusion between a former Pentagon spokeswoman and one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“I’ve stood at a podium and taken questions from the Pentagon press corps. I have never stood in an octagon. I’d like to keep it that way,” she continued. “It is nice for once that, that Dana White is being confused with this Dana White. Best of luck to the next White House Press Secretary!”
The theory suggested Trump may have intended to offer the position to Dana W. White rather than the UFC boss. Trump’s Sunday comments, however, characterized the original offer as a joke rather than an accidental announcement involving the wrong person.
There is no evidence that Trump has decided who he actually wants to serve as his chief spokesperson. There is also no evidence that his offer to the UFC executive was made in error, leaving the actual press secretary search unresolved after a weekend of political theater.