The White House briefing room has stood empty since October 16. On Saturday, Donald Trump bypassed conventional political spokespeople and publicly offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States to Ultimate Fighting Championship chief Dana White.
Trump pushed the offer directly onto Truth Social, branding White a "violent Fighter and Warrior" while pitching an aggressive communications overhaul. "Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other," Trump wrote, urging the combat sports promoter to recruit six active UFC fighters—including two Russian competitors and one Brazilian—as administrative advisers to combat political opponents.
But White did not immediately sign on. Instead, he posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself standing behind the White House briefing room lectern, captioned simply: "On to the next chapter." Speaking to reporters in London following a cruiserweight title bout between Chris Billam-Smith and Cheavon Clarke, White confirmed he will travel to Washington on Monday for talks with Trump. "I got a lot of jobs already," White said. "I'm sure we'll have something to talk about after that."
The job offer comes amid sharp instability at the White House podium. Katie Zacharia vacated the press secretary role on October 16 after less than a week on the job, having replaced Karoline Leavitt following an announcement on October 9. Yet within hours of Trump's post, commentators questioned whether the president had confused his longtime ally with another figure: Dana W. White, the former Assistant to the Secretary of Defence for Public Affairs.
Spencer T. Hakimian, founder of the New York hedge fund Tolou Capital Management, openly posited that staff had forwarded the former Pentagon spokesperson's credentials, only for Trump to mistake her for the mixed martial arts promoter. White House officials issued no correction. For political observers, the dispute instantly summoned memories of another bizarre campaign spectacle from November 2020.
That blunder played out six years earlier in northeast Philadelphia. While journalists expected a campaign briefing at the luxury Four Seasons hotel, Trump's legal team gathered instead in the concrete car park of Four Seasons Total Landscaping—flanked by a crematorium and an adult store on State Road. Attorney Rudy Giuliani spoke against garage bay doors. The firm's owner, Marie Siravo, converted the spectacle into a windfall, moving over 35,000 shirts, sweaters, and face masks branded with slogans like "Make America Rake Again" to generate more than $1.3 million in revenue.
Washington now waits to see whether Saturday's combat-themed appointment is political theatre or an official staffing mandate. Trump and White are scheduled to confer behind closed doors in the capital on Monday.