Trump Offered Dana White the White House Press Secretary Job: What Has Actually Been Confirmed

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he has offered UFC president and CEO Dana White the job of White House press secretary. That much is on the record, in Trump’s own words, under his own name.

Almost nothing after that is settled.

“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,” Trump wrote, according to wire copy from the Associated Press and matching accounts in CBS News, Newsweek and the Washington Examiner. He added, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” and closed with “Dana, please take the job!”

Trump also wrote that he had asked White to bring assistants, naming UFC fighters and former fighters including Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes. Two of those men are Russian citizens.

The Job Is Actually Open

This is the detail that keeps the post from reading as pure theater. There is no sitting White House press secretary.

Karoline Leavitt, who held the role from January 2025, left at the end of August 2026. Katie Zacharia was named to replace her around Oct. 11, started on Oct. 12, delivered one briefing, and was out by Oct. 16. The White House gave no official reason. Trump said publicly that she had been “treated, I would say, pretty nastily” and should reconsider the role. The AP reported Saturday that Trump “remains without a chief spokesperson.”

So Trump was not inventing a vacancy to make a joke about. He was pointing at an empty podium that has stayed empty for more than two months.

What White Said, and What He Did Not

White posted a screenshot of Trump’s message to his Instagram story alongside an image of himself at the press briefing room podium, captioned “On to the next chapter.” Multiple outlets described the image as a meme.

On camera in London after Zuffa Boxing 12, he was less playful and no more committal. “I’ve got a lot of jobs already,” White said. “We have a meeting on Monday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that.” He added, “I’m flying to D.C. right now.”

He did not say whether he wants the job. He did not say whether he will take it.

Two Reports, Pointing Opposite Directions

CNN reported Saturday, citing a single source familiar with the matter, that White had declined the offer. TMZ reported the same day, citing unnamed insiders, that White is expected to meet Trump in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss it.

White’s own words support the second account. A man who has turned a job down does not announce that he is flying to Washington for a Monday meeting about it. ESPN appears to have revised its story as his comments landed, which is a useful reminder not to treat any single aggregation as final.

The AP, the most careful outlet on this story, headlined its piece by saying no one will say whether Trump is joking. The White House did not respond to messages. A UFC spokesperson did not respond either, and TKO Group Holdings, the UFC’s parent company, has said nothing about whether its most visible executive might leave.

What It Would Actually Cost the UFC

White is 57. He has run the UFC since the Fertitta brothers installed him as president in January 2001, roughly 25 years, and he became CEO after the merger that created TKO. He has never held a government post and has no background in press or communications work.

He also has UFC 334 in New York on Nov. 14, plus Power Slap, Zuffa Boxing and a seat on Meta’s board. There is no announced succession plan for the UFC. Hunter Campbell co-leads the division with White and would be the obvious operational answer, though no company has said so.

Here is the responsible version: the offer is real and public, White has neither accepted nor publicly refused it, a meeting was set for Monday, and every organization involved has declined to comment. Anyone telling you he took the job is guessing.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.