Trump offers White House press secretary job to UFC chief Dana White

The offer

Donald Trump said on Saturday, 7 November 2026, that he had offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He announced it on Truth Social, calling White a fighter and warrior and writing that the job had been offered to him. It was not immediately clear whether White had accepted, and the White House and the UFC did not immediately respond to requests for more details. White posted on Instagram an image of himself at the press secretary lectern with the caption "On to the next chapter." Trump's post put the offer in formal terms:

“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.”

The vacancy

The job became open again after Katie Zacharia was pushed out after just days on the job. She had faced days of questions about her legal credentials and criticism of her performance in her first news briefing. The vacancy had been open since mid-October, when she exited after a few days in the role.

Dana White and Trump have a long relationship. According to ANSA, Trump hosted some of the first UFC events at his properties in 2000, when he was a real estate magnate. White worked with Trump to host a UFC fight night at the White House in June, and White has described the president as a "very good friend".

The fighters

Trump wrote that he had asked White to bring assistants, some of them not from the United States. He named Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison. Trump's post said these people were needed for a specific purpose:

“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left.”

Trump added that White would be a press secretary like none other.

Context and open questions

The announcement came after Republicans were routed in the US midterm elections and lost their congressional majorities. The BBC asked the White House and TKO Holdings, the parent company of the UFC, for comment on the offer. SynthID, a tool that detects whether images are altered with AI, said the image White posted was made or edited with OpenAI. Whether White will take the job remains unconfirmed.