Trump offered UFC head Dana White the job of White House press secretary

A public offer via Truth Social

On November 7, 2026, US President Donald Trump announced on his social network Truth Social that he had offered Dana White, the president and chief executive officer of UFC, the post of White House press secretary. “Dana will be a press secretary like no one has ever seen. Dana, please take this job!” Trump wrote, calling White “a fierce fighter and warrior.” The news was reported by BBC News, Anadolu, and Deutsche Welle. According to Anadolu, Trump asked White to bring along a group of fighters, naming Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, and Amanda Nunes; Deutsche Welle cites the wording about “helpers”, “even if some of them are not from our country.” Trump accompanied the post with photographs of six fighters and wrote: “We need these people to protect us from the crazy left.” At the time of publication, there was no response from White or official confirmation from the White House: BBC said it had requested comment from the White House and UFC’s parent company, TKO Holdings.

The vacancy has been open since mid-October

The post of press secretary has been vacant since October 16, when Karoline Leavitt’s successor Katya Zacharia left the position less than a week after her appointment — following an unsuccessful debut briefing, Deutsche Welle notes. The offer to White came a few days after the US midterm elections, in which the Republicans lost their majority in Congress — BBC points out this connection without asserting it as the cause. For White himself, it would be a career change after a quarter of a century in MMA: he has run UFC since 2001 and has held the CEO post since 2023.

Trump and White’s long acquaintance

White is a longtime ally and friend of Trump: he spoke at Republican conventions in support of his campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and this summer UFC staged a cage fight on the White House lawn. BBC also recalls the history of their business ties: in 2001, when venues were boycotting UFC after Senator John McCain called mixed martial arts “human cockfighting” (which led to bans in 36 states), Trump hosted two UFC events at his Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City — White believes this saved the organization. White is also known for his confrontations with journalists: in 2009 he released a video with insults directed at a reporter, and in 2020 a video against journalists who criticized holding tournaments at the height of the pandemic. The appointment so far remains only an offer: neither White nor the White House has publicly responded to it.