Trump Asks UFC Boss Dana White to Be Press Secretary — SkimNews
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- Trump asked Dana White on Saturday afternoon via Truth Social to become White House press secretary, writing that White would be “a Press Secretary like none other” and calling him “a violent Fighter and Warrior.”
- Dana White posted an Instagram photo behind the podium in the White House press briefing room with the words “On to the next chapter”; it was unclear whether the post was tongue-in-cheek.
- White House has had a press secretary vacancy since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia exited after a few days in the job; the White House and TKO Holdings were asked for comment on Trump’s offer.
- Trump asked White to bring a number of high-profile UFC fighters, including some not from the United States, to “defend us against the Lunatic Left,” and posted photos of six fighters.
- Dana White released a 2020 video targeting reporters who questioned UFC’s decision to hold fights early in the pandemic and used an anti-gay slur in a 2009 tirade rebutting a journalist’s backstage-credentialing story.
- Dana White and his business partners bought the struggling UFC for $2 million in 2001 after the sport had endured bans in 36 states and intense bipartisan backlash; White credits Trump with saving it by hosting two UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal that year.
- UFC held a cage match on the White House lawn this summer, and Dana White had spoken for Trump’s White House campaigns at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Why it matters: The proposal bears directly on a White House role vacant since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia left after a few days, but no appointment had been announced. Trump’s pitch for a longtime ally with documented confrontations with reporters also places the unusual offer after Republicans lost their congressional majorities, with six UFC fighters named as part of it.
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