Trump says making Dana White press secretary was a joke; White says he has no political ambitions
UFC chief executive Dana White joined President Donald Trump at a White House press briefing on Monday, where Trump clarified that his suggestion to appoint White as his press secretary was merely a joke.
Trump told reporters he had been having a very bad press day when White's name came to mind. "I said: 'You know, I think I'm going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary,'" Trump said.
Trump said he made the remark in front of a group of reporters. "I was sort of kidding, and then they wrote the story as though I wasn't kidding," he said.
White then took the podium himself to shut down any talk of entering government service. "I have zero political aspirations," he said.
White said he was at a fight for Zuffa Boxing in London when Trump called him with the news. "The last 24 hours of my life have been insane," he said.
A reporter asked him to break down a hypothetical UFC cage match between Trump and former President Joe Biden.
White praised Trump's toughness in reply. "He's the toughest, most resilient human being that I've ever met in my entire life," White said of Trump.
White added that many times over the last eight or ten years he had asked Trump why he kept going. But after Trump was shot, he proved he is a "one-of-one unique human being."
On the hypothetical fight itself, White said: "It would be very bad. Yeah, I think it would be very bad."
White also said he never explicitly told Trump "no" about the position.
Before stepping away, he was asked what advice he would give Trump about a possible posthumous pardon for Pete Rose, the legendary baseball player who died in 2024.
Rose was banned from MLB Hall of Fame eligibility for betting on baseball, including games involving his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. In 2025, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose and 16 other deceased people from the permanently ineligible list.
Trump reiterated during the briefing that he favours pardoning the hit king.
