Trump floated Dana White for press secretary: ‘I was only kidding’
United States President Donald Trump set off a weekend of speculation by suggesting his close friend Dana White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), could become the White House press secretary — before saying on Sunday night that he was only joking.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had offered White the job of press secretary of the United States. In the post he called White “the Great Dana White” and described him as a “violent Fighter and Warrior”.
In the same post, Trump said he had asked White to bring along fighters such as Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov as “assistants”. The post was accompanied by images of the muscle-bound fighters, several of them baring their teeth.
Trump wrote in the post, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left.” He added, “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
Speculation ran for hours after the post appeared over whether Trump was really about to put White in the job. But on Sunday night, speaking from an airport tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump put an end to the rumours himself.
“I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea,” Trump told reporters. He added, “And there’s only one Dana. He’s great.”
Dana White is a longstanding friend of Trump and has endorsed him for president. But he has never held a government position. As head of the UFC, he runs the mixed martial arts company that counts Trump among its fans.
The press secretary role remains vacant. In October, Trump briefly appointed political commentator Katie Zacharia to the job. She lasted five days, the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary in history.
Critics questioned Zacharia’s legal credentials and her job performance. At her inaugural briefing, she struggled to deliver her opening remarks, and the meeting ended within 15 minutes.
Trump has a history of unconventional picks for public office. Rob Arlett, a Republican strategist and former Delaware campaign manager for Trump, told Al Jazeera he believed Trump was partly serious. Arlett said he and White share a friendship and business relationship dating back more than 25 years, when Trump supported the UFC by hosting its events in Atlantic City.
