Trump said Friday he was replacing Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller
The White House did not respond Saturday to messages asking about Donald Trump’s Truth Social post offering Dana White the job of press secretary, and nobody in the White House immediately confirmed the announcement. White was in London on Saturday for a boxing event, and a UFC spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Trump, while at his golf club in Florida, posted that he had made the offer to “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” to become the Republican president’s chief spokesperson. The Associated Press described the announcement as “unconventional even for the norm-busting president.” Trump said he requested that White bring along several UFC fighters as “assistants,” adding, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
White shared an image of Trump’s post on Instagram, along with an image of himself standing behind the podium in the White House press briefing room. The post carried the words “On to the next chapter.”
On Friday, Trump announced he was replacing his longtime adviser Susie Wiles with aide Stephen Miller to serve as the next chief of staff. The Associated Press reported that Wiles “was seen as something of a tempering force on the president’s impulses” and that “Miller is known as the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies and is among the most determined of Trump’s inner circle.”
The shake-up followed what the Associated Press called a “brief but tumultuous” week in which Trump tried out a new press secretary in Katie Zacharia. The wire service reported that she “seemed uncomfortable in her sole appearance before reporters” before leaving the job after five days. The press-secretary post had been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August, leaving Trump without a chief spokesperson.
Trump’s post came as the White House absorbed the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Associated Press reported that Democratic candidates won in areas Republicans had held for decades, and the GOP lost control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump and White are close friends, and Trump has attended several UFC events with White since returning to the White House in January 2025.
In June, Trump brought White and the sport to the White House’s South Lawn for the celebration of America’s 250th year of its independence and the president’s own 80th birthday. A wire-mesh Octagon was constructed near the executive mansion under “The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lights, sound equipment and large screens. “It was an amazing experience, this was a one-of-one,” White said afterward. White also spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
The Associated Press filed its report from West Palm Beach, Florida. Writers Daniel Gelston in Philadelphia and Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed.