Dana White Sets Trump Meeting Over White House Press Secretary Offer

Dana White is headed for a Monday meeting with President Donald Trump after the president offered him the vacant White House press secretary job.

White confirmed the meeting while speaking to reporters at a boxing event in London. The UFC chief said he planned to fly straight to Washington and expected the conversation to bring more clarity to an offer that immediately blurred politics, sports and spectacle.

Trump announced the offer in a social media post Saturday. He described White as a fighter and said the longtime combat-sports executive could bring UFC figures with him as assistants. White then shared the president’s message and an image of himself behind the White House briefing-room podium.

“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,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris. 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!”

The public response stopped short of an acceptance. Asked how he could add a government role to his existing workload, White said, “Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already.”

The press secretary speaks for the president and handles regular briefings with reporters. The role demands quick answers on policy, personnel and events that can shift by the hour. White has spent years running news conferences, but the White House job carries a different level of public scrutiny.

White runs UFC and has also been building Zuffa Boxing with Saudi backing. His next steps in Washington could pull one of combat sports’ most recognizable executives into a daily role speaking for the president and answering questions from the White House press corps.

The offer arrived during a wider reset inside the administration. Trump named Stephen Miller to replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. Katie Zacharia left the press secretary post after five days, and the job had already been open since Karoline Leavitt departed in August.

White and Trump have maintained a close relationship for years. White spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Trump has appeared at UFC events, while White helped bring a UFC show to the White House lawn during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration in June.

White declined to describe his earlier talks with Trump. “I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that,” he said of Monday’s meeting.