Trump Says Dana White Press Secretary Offer Was a Joke All Along
Trump walked back his Truth Social post offering Dana White the press secretary job, calling it a joke while insisting White loved the idea.
Donald Trump now says he was kidding about making Dana White his press secretary. The backtrack came Sunday in Florida, one day after Trump posted on Truth Social that White "has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States" and urged him to take it.
"I will tell you, I was only kidding," Trump told reporters on Sunday, per LowKick MMA. "But Dana loves the idea. And there is only one Dana. He is great."
The original post, which went up Saturday, called White "a violent Fighter and Warrior" and named six fighters as his proposed assistants: Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison. Trump said the lineup was needed to "defend us against the Lunatic Left" after Democrats swept the House and Senate in the November 3 midterms.
White played along before the clarification. He posted an Instagram Story showing himself behind a White House podium with the caption "On to the next chapter." At a Zuffa Boxing event in London, White confirmed a Monday meeting with Trump but declined details, saying he already has "a lot of jobs."
Trump confirmed the Monday visit was still on but said it was "for other reasons." The press secretary position remains vacant after Katie Zacharia left the role in October.
I called it yesterday: no way Dana White was leaving the UFC for a podium. The whole thing played out exactly like a Trump social media bit. Float something wild, let it dominate the news cycle for 24 hours, then say you were joking while making sure everyone knows the other guy loved the idea.
White played his part perfectly. The Instagram Story behind the podium was chef-kiss level trolling. But let us be real: Dana White answering questions from the White House press corps every day would last about 72 hours before someone got called an idiot on live television.
The real question is what Monday is meeting is actually about. White has been tightening his grip on combat sports, between the UFC and Zuffa Boxing, and Trump has shown he wants fighters in his orbit. Whatever comes out of that meeting probably matters more than the press secretary stunt ever did.
