Trump says Dana White press secretary offer was a joke

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was “only kidding” when he publicly offered UFC chief executive Dana White the vacant White House press secretary job, ending speculation sparked by his own social media post a day earlier.

“But Dana loves the idea. And there’s only one Dana. He’s great,” Trump told reporters. He said White was due to visit him Monday for “other reasons” and called the purported offer “just a little fun.”

On Saturday, Trump had written on Truth Social that White “has been offered the job” and urged him to accept it. He also said he had asked White to bring several mixed martial arts fighters as “assistants.”

“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote. “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”

White did not say Saturday whether he would take the position. Asked about the post at a news conference, he said, “I’ve got a lot of jobs already.” He confirmed plans to meet Trump on Monday and said they would have something to discuss afterward.

The White House has been without a press secretary since October, when Katie Zacharia left the role after less than five days. She had succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who held the job from the start of Trump’s second term and was the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history. Al Jazeera reported that Zacharia’s tenure was the shortest on record and that the position has been vacant since October 16.

White, who has never held a government position, has a longstanding relationship with Trump. He spoke in support of Trump at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and joined him onstage for his 2024 election victory speech. According to Al Jazeera, Trump hosted UFC events at his Atlantic City casino early in White’s leadership of the organization, a decision White has credited with helping the sport gain acceptance.

White leads the UFC and the slap-fighting promotion PowerSlap, has launched a boxing promotion called Zuffa Boxing and sits on the board of Meta, the BBC reported. The BBC also reported that Trump’s post followed midterm elections in which Republicans lost their majorities in both houses of Congress.

Trump said the offer was a joke, but one Republican strategist offered a different reading. Rob Arlett, a former Delaware campaign manager for Trump, told Al Jazeera he believed the president was “partly serious.” Arlett said Trump sometimes floats ideas publicly to gauge the reaction before deciding what to do next.

White had given no indication that he planned to leave his existing work. By Sunday, Trump had made clear that their Monday meeting was not, at least as he described it, about filling the press secretary vacancy.