UFC CEO Dana White put to rest speculation that he might be tapped to be President Donald Trump’s next press secretary during an impromptu news conference in the White House briefing room Monday.
“Dana, would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America?” Trump asked. “Look at the sign. You’d have this behind you all the time. The White House, Washington. Would you like that, or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC?”
“Thank you for the offer, sir,” White answered. “I do not want to be in politics. No.”
Trump then responded, “I am devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everybody.”
The exchange seemingly ended a situation Trump started Saturday when he posted on his Truth Social account that he was offering White the position while at his golf club in Florida. The 57-year-old White, a longtime friend and supporter of Trump, was in London on Saturday and said that he would be traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with the president without providing further details.
“I’ve got a lot of jobs already,” White said at the post-fight news conference for Saturday’s Zuffa Boxing 12 event. “We have a meeting on Monday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that.”
White also posted an AI-generated image of himself at the White House press briefing podium on his Instagram story with the comment, “On to the next chapter.”
However, Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday that, “I was only kidding, but Dana loves the idea!”
White said Monday that “the last 24 hours of my life has been insane. Literally everybody, every media outlet was calling me, and I didn’t want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first.
“I have zero political aspirations,” White added.
Trump said he made the post offering White the position during a “very bad press day.”
“I don’t know why I thought of his name,” Trump added. “He’s been my friend for a long time. I said, ‘You know, I think I’m going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary.’ I said it to a group of the press, and that was it. I was sort of kidding. And then they wrote the story as though I wasn’t kidding, and you were inundated and I was inundated.”
Karoline Leavitt served as press secretary until leaving the role in August after the birth of her second child. Katie Zacharia lasted just five days in the position last month.
Trump has been a regular attendee of UFC events, including bringing a fight card to the White House’s South Lawn in June. UFC Freedom 250 celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary as well as Trump’s 80th birthday.
Trump has worked with White since the Trump Taj Mahal casino hosted a UFC event in 2001. White has publicly supported Trump, including speeches at the Republican National Convention in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
