WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump offered the job of White House press secretary to Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White, pushing a combat-sports promoter into the center of his incoming communications apparatus before the executive turned down the role.
"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. Dana, please take the job!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
White walked away from the offer.
Yet the mixed martial arts magnate teased the post online before passing on it. He posted an image on Instagram featuring himself against a White House backdrop and the American flag with the caption, "On to the next chapter," alongside a screenshot of Trump's public appeal. The display stoked hours of intrigue over whether a cage-fighting executive would command the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
The announcement ignited immediate questions across political circles over an apparent identity mix-up. Observers noted that Dana W. White, a seasoned communications strategist who previously served as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and worked as a House Republican aide, shared the exact name of the fight promoter.
"I guarantee you 100%, somebody recommended her to Trump and he mistook her for the UFC's Dana White and now we all are in this mess," said Spencer T. Hakimian, founder of the New York-based hedge fund Tolou Capital Management, in a public video dissecting the move.
The former Pentagon official had handled press operations for the Secretary of Defense and was reportedly floated on transition shortlists for top messaging roles. Whether Trump deliberately courted his longtime combat-sports ally or conflated him with the defense spokesperson remains unaddressed by his transition team.
With White remaining at the helm of the UFC, Trump must now find another candidate to lead daily administration briefings before taking the oath of office.