United States President Donald Trump has said he was only joking when he announced that Ultimate Fighting Championship boss Dana White had been offered the vacant White House press secretary position.
Trump made the clarification on Sunday, a day after announcing on his Truth Social platform that he had offered White the job.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said White liked the idea but that the offer was not serious.
“I will tell you, I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea. And there’s only one Dana. He’s great,” Trump said.
“But, it was just a little fun.”
Trump had announced on Saturday that White had been “offered the job”, adding that he wanted the UFC boss to bring current and former mixed martial arts fighters into the White House as assistants.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote.
“Dana, please take the job!”
White later said he had several existing jobs and declined to confirm whether he would accept the position.
“I’ve got a lot of jobs already,” White said at a news conference.
He added that he expected to discuss the matter with Trump during their planned meeting on Monday.
Trump, however, said on Sunday that White’s visit to Washington was for other reasons.
“I think he’s going to be in Washington. So he’s going to come over and see me,” the president said.
The White House press secretary position has remained vacant since October, when Katie Zacharia resigned after less than five days in the role.
She had succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who served as press secretary from the beginning of Trump’s second term.
Trump’s announcement came shortly after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the US midterm elections, losing control of both chambers of Congress.
White, who heads the UFC and PowerSlap and recently launched Zuffa Boxing, has maintained close ties with Trump.
He has supported Trump at Republican National Convention events in 2016, 2020 and 2024 and appeared on stage during Trump’s 2024 election victory speech.
White is also a board member of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Earlier this year, the UFC staged a cage-fighting event on the White House lawn.
Source: BBC News.
