The key facts
- Trump publicly offered UFC head Dana White the post of White House press secretary
- He included Nurmagomedov, Makhachev, Gaethje, Cormier and Nunes in the team, noting that some are not US citizens
- There has been no official appointment; the post is vacant after the dismissal of Karoline Zakaria, who served five days
The proposal on Truth Social
US President Donald Trump on November 7, 2026 wrote on his social network Truth Social, that he had offered the position of White House press secretary to UFC president Dana White. “I am pleased to announce that the great Dana White, a fierce fighter and warrior, has been offered the position of press secretary of the United States,” Life.ru quotes his post as saying. According to Trump’s plan, White is to head the press office and bring with him assistants from among well-known MMA fighters in order to “protect us from the crazy left” — that is how the president framed the goal in his address to White: “Dana, please accept!”
Who was included in the proposed lineup
For the new press secretary’s team, Trump proposed including Russians Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, Americans Justin Gaethje and Daniel Cormier, as well as Brazilian Amanda Nunes and, according to Life.ru, Kyla Harris — as he called her in the post. The president himself noted that some of the listed candidates are not US citizens. Life.ru suggests the proposal may have been made in jest. There have been no official announcements of White’s appointment or of the athletes being invited to public service; the fighters’ own reaction is also unknown.
Context: a vacancy after a five-day press secretary
The press secretary post in the administration remains unfilled after the dismissal of Karoline Zakaria, who lasted only five days in the role: her debut briefing lasted about 14 minutes and drew criticism. In October, Trump admitted he had advised her to reconsider her decision to work at the White House, and later said he was in no hurry to appoint a successor; press secretary duties are temporarily distributed among other administration spokespeople. Earlier, Trump also jokingly discussed appointing rapper Nicki Minaj to the post. The president and White share a long-standing friendship: in June, a UFC event featuring seven bouts was held on the South Lawn of the White House, timed to Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of US independence.
