Trump Offers UFC Chief Dana White the White House Press Secretary Job

President Donald Trump said on Saturday, November 7, 2026, that he had offered the White House press secretary job to Dana White, the president and chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Trump announced the offer in a post on Truth Social and urged White to accept. Hours later, a source familiar with the matter told CNN that White had declined the offer — but whether the offer was ever serious remains unclear, and the story is still moving.

What Trump posted

Trump's post was direct. "I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States," he wrote, adding: "Dana, please take the job!"

In the same post, Trump asked White to bring six current and former UFC fighters with him as "assistants": Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison — Trump spelled the last name "Harris" in his post. Trump wrote that the group was needed to defend the administration against its critics and that White would be "a Press Secretary like none other."

The White House press secretary job has been vacant since October 16, when Katie Zacharia left after just five days — the shortest tenure in the role's history, according to multiple reports. Trump fired Zacharia after a single rocky briefing. Karoline Leavitt, the previous press secretary, resigned in August. CNN reported that Trump has struggled to find someone to fill the position, one he is personally invested in.

White's response

White did not give a straight yes or no in public. On Saturday he posted a photo of himself standing at the podium in the White House briefing room on Instagram, with the caption: "On to the next chapter."

But a source familiar with the matter told CNN that White had declined the offer. Separately, TMZ reported that White intends to discuss the opening with Trump in person on Monday. White House communications director Steven Cheung reposted Trump's message, adding: "Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!"

As of Saturday evening, neither the White House nor the UFC had responded to requests for comment from USA Today. CNN also said it had reached out to both for comment.

Who Dana White is

White, 57, runs the UFC as its president and chief executive and is a longtime Trump ally, according to the New York Post and The Times. The two have a long public relationship: the UFC staged an event, UFC Freedom 250, on the White House's South Lawn on June 14, 2026. Cheung, the White House communications director who cheered the offer on, previously held a similar media role for the UFC before joining Trump.

White's background is in fight promotion, not government communications. The press secretary's job is to speak for the president daily, take questions from the White House press corps and defend administration policy on camera — a very different arena from running a sports promotion.

Joke, trial balloon or real offer?

That is the honest question, and it does not have a firm answer yet. One White House aide told CNN that Trump was joking about the offer. USA Today noted that Trump is known for sharing satirical content on his social media platform, so it remains unclear whether White is seriously being considered for the open post.

The mixed signals are the story: a public offer in Trump's own words, a playful response from White, a source saying he declined, an aide saying it was a joke, and a reported meeting planned for Monday. Until Trump or White says something definitive, the offer sits somewhere between a joke and a trial balloon — and the Monday meeting may settle which one it was.

The timing fits a wider staffing reshuffle at the White House after Republicans lost control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections. The press secretary vacancy is the most visible opening, and Trump has now tried an unorthodox route to fill it: offering the job, in public, to a sports executive rather than a communications professional.