UFC CEO Dana White makes his living putting on fights in a cage. But over the weekend, it briefly looked like he might find himself on a very different stage: behind the podium in the White House briefing room.
The White House hasn't had a press secretary since October, when Katie Zacharia left after just five days. She’d taken over from Karoline Leavitt, who departed at the end of August.
If the UFC figurehead's name rings a bell for another reason, there's a good reason for that: A different Dana White served as the Pentagon's spokeswoman during Trump’s first term, prompting jokes online that he’d offered the job to the wrong person — and clarification from Ms. White herself.
Could Dana White become the next press secretary?
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he offered White — whom he referred to as “a violent Fighter and Warrior" — the opportunity to become his next chief spokesman.
Sir, a second Dana White has declined to be the new press secretary.
— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙♂️🌈 (@DavidLeavitt) November 8, 2026
Trump even suggested White bring six UFC fighters along as “assistants,” naming Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and "Kayla Harris" (a likely reference to Kayla Harrison). “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” he wrote.
On Sunday morning, Trump followed up with a Family Guy–style cartoon imagining White’s first briefing. “Trump made me press secretary, I brought help,” a depiction of White says from behind the podium. When reporters start asking questions, the UFC fighters beside him tackle them and haul them out of the room.
The Washington Post reported that the offer was a joke, while CNN reported that White turned it down, citing a source familiar with the matter. But his Instagram story left more room for interpretation: On Saturday, he shared a screenshot of Trump’s post and an image of himself behind the White House briefing room podium, captioned “On to the next chapter.” The Washington Post reported that the image was made or edited with AI.
Later that day, White said he planned to meet with Trump on Monday. “I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that,” he told reporters at a boxing event in London. As for how he’d fit the role into his schedule? He explained, “Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already.”
On Sunday evening, however, Trump appeared to put an end to the rumors. He told reporters from an airport tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida: “I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea... And there’s only one Dana. He’s great.”
Testing the waters?
Al Jazeera suggested that the episode might have been Trump testing the waters. “Knowing President Trump as I do, I believe he was partly serious,” Rob Arlett, a Republican strategist and former Delaware campaign manager for Trump, told the outlet.
“He and Dana White share a longstanding friendship and business relationship dating back more than 25 years, when Trump supported the UFC by hosting events at his Atlantic City casino. Their mutual loyalty and trust remain strong,” he added.
It may be that Trump wanted to assess the public's reaction to an apparently lighthearted suggestion before making a final decision. It certainly wouldn't be his oddest move — and there's already a UFC connection in the White House press office. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, was a UFC spokesperson from 2013 to 2016.
What’s White’s connection to Trump?
Their friendship goes back to the early days of White's leadership of the UFC.
In 2001, Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City hosted UFC fights at a time when many venues wanted little to do with the sport. White brought up that history at the 2016 Republican National Convention. “Nobody took us seriously,” he told the crowd. “Nobody. Except Donald Trump.”
White returned to speak in 2020 and again in 2024, when he introduced Trump before his nomination acceptance speech. He also took the mic at Trump’s election-night victory party that year.
The relationship has been a reciprocal one: Trump has been a regular at UFC fights since his first term. During the 2024 campaign, those appearances were part of a broader push to reach younger male voters, including those who don’t follow politics closely or get their news from traditional outlets. In June, Trump brought the fights to the White House. The UFC set up its eight-sided cage on the South Lawn for an event marking America’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 80th birthday.
White has also faced scrutiny during his time running the UFC. In January 2023, TMZ published a video showing him slapping his wife, Anne, at a New Year’s Eve party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He apologized in an interview published alongside the footage. At a news conference later that month, he said there was no excuse for his actions and that the criticism he’d received was “100 percent warranted.”
If the job offer had been serious, there’d also be a question about how White would handle his business ties. The UFC brought in $1.5 billion in revenue in 2025 and counts Bud Light among its sponsors. White also sits on the board of Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram.
