Trump offered Dana White press secretary job, then said he was kidding

The US president announced the UFC chief as his press secretary on Truth Social, then called it a joke; White turned the job down, according to reports.

What happened

Donald Trump offered Dana White the job of White House press secretary, announcing it in a post on Truth Social on Saturday ¹. In the post he called White a 'violent Fighter and Warrior' ² and wrote: 'Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!' ³. He asked White to bring assistants with him ⁴, naming six current or former UFC titleholders, including Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov ⁵, and wrote that the fighters are needed to defend against the 'Lunatic Left' ⁶.

On Sunday Trump said he was 'only kidding' about the suggestion ⁷, and said White 'loves the idea' but that he had not been serious, describing it as 'just a little fun' ⁸. The UFC chief turned down the offer ⁹. The post has remained vacant for weeks ¹⁰, and the White House has been without a press secretary since October 16, when Katie Zacharia left after less than a week in the job ¹¹¹².

What is confirmed

The offer, the walk-back and the refusal are each reported across multiple outlets. Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that White had been offered the job ¹³, and said on Sunday he was 'only kidding' ¹⁴⁷. White turned the offer down ⁹.

Trump said White would visit him at the White House on Monday for other reasons ¹⁵, and that White would meet him in the Oval Office to discuss the matter ¹⁶. White said he was flying to Washington D.C. right now ¹⁷ and that he already had a lot of jobs ¹⁸. He also posted an Instagram image of himself behind the White House press briefing podium captioned 'On to the next chapter' ¹⁹. Separately, Trump named Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff on Friday, replacing Susie Wiles ²⁰.

Where the accounts differ

Russian state media centres Trump's offer and White's response. TASS reports that White will meet Trump on Monday and that he turned down the offer, per CNN ¹⁶⁹, and highlights the proposal to appoint the Russian fighters Makhachev and Nurmagomedov as assistants ⁵; RT frames the story as Trump asking the UFC boss to take the role ¹⁰.

Asian outlets centre the offer and the later walk-back. The South China Morning Post reports Trump said he was 'only kidding' and called the suggestion 'just a little fun' ⁸; The Times of India frames it as a 'great White mix-up' and asks whether the wrong Dana White was offered the job; CGTN states plainly that Trump offered the UFC CEO the job ¹.

European outlets foreground the walk-back, with France 24, the BBC, the Financial Times and The Guardian leading on Trump's claim he was 'only kidding' ⁷, quoting 'Dana, please take the job!' ³ and noting the Truth Social post and an AI-generated cartoon video. France 24 also reports the White House has yet to announce a permanent replacement.

Middle East state media foregrounds the offer and the question of whether it was 'a joke or test', centring Trump's words and White's statement that 'I'm flying to Washington, DC, right now' ¹⁷. Al Jazeera and TRT World give space to White's background, noting his donation to America First Action ²¹ and his 2015 endorsement of Trump ²².

What is not known yet

Several details rest on a single outlet. Dana W. White said people congratulating her have the wrong Dana White, reported only by France 24 ²³. Trump's communications director Steven Cheung reposted the announcement on X, reported only by France 24 ²⁴, and Trump accompanied his post with an AI-generated cartoon video of White at the briefing podium, reported only by France 24 ²⁵.

Trump hosted a UFC tournament on the White House lawn in June for the 250th anniversary of US independence, reported only by Al Jazeera ²⁶. White donated $1m to the pro-Trump America First Action PAC in 2020, reported only by Al Jazeera ²¹, and endorsed Trump's presidential bid in December 2015, reported only by Al Jazeera ²². White became UFC president in 2001 after the Fertitta brothers bought the company for $2m, reported only by Al Jazeera ²⁷.

The ledger leaves open who, if anyone, will be named press secretary, and what was actually discussed at the Monday meeting.

Why it matters

The episode keeps attention on a post that the ledger says has been vacant for weeks ¹⁰, with no permanent replacement announced in the accounts given. This suggests the vacancy remains an open question for the administration's communications operation.

If confirmed, the naming of fighters as proposed assistants ⁵ and Trump's language about the 'Lunatic Left' ⁶ would place the announcement within a wider political argument rather than a routine staffing decision. Analysis: the walk-back ⁷ and White's refusal ⁹ leave the offer as a public gesture whose practical effect is unclear.

Opinion

Faultline's view

the story is being told in Europe and much of the Western press almost entirely as a walk-back, with the 'only kidding' line leading and the substance trailing. That framing is convenient. The ledger shows a confirmed offer, a confirmed refusal and a confirmed vacancy, and it also shows Trump naming specific fighters as proposed assistants and tying the proposal to a political fight. Russian and Chinese outlets, by contrast, report the offer and the response plainly, and TASS gives space to the named Russian fighters. None of that makes the joke explanation false, and the single-source details about the cartoon video and the congratulation texts should not be treated as settled. But readers are better served by the full sequence than by the punchline alone.

This section is Faultline’s opinion, argued only from the receipts above. It is not part of the factual record and cites nothing new.