The post lands amid a vacancy and Republican midterm losses
US President Donald Trump asked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White on Saturday afternoon to become White House press secretary. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other” and added, “Dana, please take the job!”
In the Saturday afternoon post, Trump called White “a violent Fighter and Warrior” and asked White to bring a number of high-profile UFC fighters with him on the job “even though some are not from our Country.” Trump wrote, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” alongside photos of the six fighters. Islam Makhachev, a Russian, was one of the fighters Trump suggested White bring with him.
Following Trump’s post, White posted an Instagram photo of himself behind the podium in the White House press briefing room. “On to the next chapter,” White’s post said, though the BBC said it was unclear whether the post was tongue-in-cheek.
A vacancy, midterm result and a request for comment
The White House press secretary position has been open since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia exited after just a few days on the job. Trump’s request followed the US midterm elections, in which Republicans lost their congressional majorities.
It was unclear whether the president’s public job offer was genuine. The BBC said it had asked the White House and TKO Holdings, the parent company of UFC, for comment.
Earlier clashes with sports reporters
White has at times clashed with journalists covering the sport during news conferences. In 2009, he released an expletive-laden video tirade using an anti-gay slur while rebutting a journalist’s story about changes to backstage credentialing rules at UFC events.
In 2020, he released a video targeting reporters who had questioned the UFC’s decision to hold fights early in the pandemic.
White’s long ties to Trump
White is a longtime ally and friend of Trump. When White and his business partners bought the then-struggling UFC organization for $2m in 2001, the sport faced intense bipartisan backlash.
Just five years earlier, Republican Senator John McCain had labeled mixed martial arts “human cockfighting,” sparking bans in 36 US states.
White told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, in 2025: “None of the venues wanted [the UFC]. They didn’t believe in it. They didn’t like it, and they were worried about the type of crowd that would show up for this type of event.”
With mainstream arenas shutting the organization out, White credits Trump with saving it by hosting two UFC events at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2001.
White became a speaker for Trump’s White House campaigns at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024. This summer, the UFC held a cage match on the White House lawn.
The BBC’s report left the offer unresolved. The BBC said the public job offer’s genuineness was unclear and that it was unclear whether White’s Instagram post was tongue-in-cheek.