Dana White rejects Trump's White House press secretary offer at briefing

Zacharia left after five days, leaving the press secretary post open

President Donald Trump brought UFC chief Dana White into the White House briefing room on Monday for a surprise appearance before reporters, and briefly stood aside as his longtime friend took questions. White opened by saying, “I’ve always wanted to do this,” then asked, “Who has the first question?” before clarifying, “I have zero political aspirations.” After about half an hour of questions on the midterms, the war in Iran and other serious topics, Trump turned to White and asked, “Would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America” or “just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC?” White said, “Thank you for the offer,” before adding, “I do not want to be in politics, no.”

The White House press secretary position was still open after the session. The Associated Press described the vacancy as the result of a “brief, tumultuous week” in which Trump tried out Katie Zacharia as press secretary, and said she “struggled in her sole appearance before reporters” before leaving the job after five days. The AP said the post had been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August.

The briefing followed a weekend proposal Trump made on social media Saturday, saying he wanted “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” as his next chief spokesman. The post caught White off guard at a boxing match in London. White said, “He called me and told me that he had done this,” adding, “The last 24 hours of my life has been insane.” Trump said he had been having a “very bad press day” and thought that suggesting White as the 38th White House press secretary in the nation’s history might be good for a laugh. In the hours after the post, neither the White House nor UFC would provide clarity on whether the suggestion was serious. On Sunday night, Trump said, “I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy.”

At Monday’s session, Trump said, “We thought we’d have a little fun and we brought Dana here,” and added, “He would be fantastic.” The Associated Press described the appearance as “milking a joke” that began over the weekend, when Trump said he had offered White the job of White House press secretary. The session was arranged so hastily that officials did not have time to affix the presidential seal to the lectern from which Trump spoke.

Some reporters in the press room played along. One asked White whether he had advice for Trump about the possibility of issuing a posthumous pardon for Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader. White responded, “I don’t advise the president on anything ever,” then added, “But yeah, I think it’s fair.” Trump interjected, “I’d give Pete Rose a pardon.” White later remarked, “I can’t believe you actually have questions for me.”

The Associated Press said the joke and the briefing were the latest in a series of unexpected choices Trump had made since Republicans’ sweeping losses during the previous week’s midterm elections. The AP wrote that “Trump has long relished doing the norm-busting unexpected as president, but he’s leaned even more into that tendency around the election.”

The day before midterm balloting began, Trump used what was billed as a speech outlining his closing argument for why his party deserved to continue to control Congress to instead talk up his costly and problem-plagued effort to overhaul the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool. On Wednesday, after Democrats won across the country, including Senate seats in Texas, South Carolina and Kansas, Trump took reporters on a tour of the White House ballroom’s construction site and signed a steel beam. The following day, he declared the Oval Office would become a national monument — a move the Associated Press said would not prevent future presidents from undoing “the gilded flourishes he’s packed it with.” On Friday, the White House promoted a new website celebrating plans for a towering memorial arch in Trump’s honor, despite a court order blocking work on the project.

Trump and White have been friends for decades, and Trump has frequently attended UFC events with him. White spoke at the last three Republican National Conventions. In June, Trump allowed UFC to take over the White House’s South Lawn for the celebration of America’s 250th year of independence and Trump’s 80th birthday. A wire-mesh Octagon was constructed under “The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lights, sound equipment and large screens.

At Monday’s briefing, Trump described White as “He’s really very unique,” then said, “The only problem is he’ll talk for a little while and then he’s going to beat the hell out of you.”