Trump says naming UFC chief as press secretary was "only kidding"
US President Donald Trump has said his announcement naming UFC chief Dana White as White House press secretary was just a joke. He clarified the matter to reporters on Sunday.
In a social media post on Saturday, Trump had said he had offered White the job of press secretary. The announcement quickly drew wide attention.
Speaking to reporters on his way back to the White House from his beach club in Florida on Sunday, Trump explained the joke. He said the idea was that if White took over the briefing room flanked by six fighters, reporters "would not mess around with him so much".
Trump said, "I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy." He added, "Of course, I was kidding. And you could see that because I put all of the great fighters as his assistants, that they are all going to come with him. It was just a little fun."
Earlier on Sunday, Trump shared an animated AI cartoon made by one of his supporters on social media. The cartoon showed UFC fighters beating up journalists.
In the cartoon, fighter Josh Hokit was shown repeating the racist remark about Michelle Obama that he made during the UFC event at the White House on Trump’s birthday in June.
The president said his mock announcement was an example of something where he was kidding, and then people said, "You know, that is actually a pretty good idea." He did not say who exactly supported the idea.
The role of White House press secretary has been vacant for three weeks. Trump’s previous pick, the far-right commentator Katie Zacharia, was forced to resign. She could not dodge questions about why she described herself as an attorney despite having failed the bar exam.
Dana White is the chief executive of the UFC and a devoted friend of Trump. A series of taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads broadcast by the White House in the run-up to the recent midterms closed with images of the UFC fight on Trump’s birthday and remarks about him from White.
In that ad, White could be heard saying: "He is the toughest, most resilient human being I have ever met in my life." White used that formulation to describe Trump multiple times during the 2024 presidential election campaign, most notably at the Republican national convention.
With the press secretary post vacant for three weeks, questions remain about the next appointment. Trump, however, has made no new announcement on the matter.
