Trump says he offered Dana White White House press secretary job
Dana White says he will meet President Trump on Monday, but neither he nor the White House has confirmed he will take the role.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Dana White press secretary speculation is still just that. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had offered the White House job to the UFC CEO, while White said he was headed to Washington for a meeting with Trump on Monday.
White did not say whether he had accepted or rejected the offer. The White House also did not respond to requests for comment from ESPN, leaving no official confirmation that White has been appointed.
Has Dana White been named White House press secretary?
No. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that White had been offered the position, but an offer is not an appointment. White told reporters in London after Zuffa Boxing 12 that he had a Monday meeting with the president and would have more to say afterward, according to ESPN and CBS Sports.
“I got a lot of jobs already,” White said, according to CBS Sports. He declined to give further details about the possible White House role.
White also posted an image of himself at the White House briefing-room podium on Instagram with the words, “On to the next chapter,” reports from ESPN, CBS Sports and CBS News said. The post did not confirm that he would take the job.
What Trump said about the role
Trump’s Truth Social post called White a “violent Fighter and Warrior” and said he had offered him the press secretary position. Trump also proposed several UFC figures as possible assistants: Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and “Kayla Harris,” the name used in the president’s post.
CNN had earlier reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that White was not taking the job, according to ESPN and Yahoo Sports. But White’s own public comments did not confirm that report, and a Facebook excerpt claiming he had rejected the offer included no supporting details in the available reporting.
Why the post is open
The press secretary job has been vacant since Katie Zacharia left after five days in the role, ESPN and CBS News reported. She had followed Karoline Leavitt, who stepped aside in August.
Trump and White have known each other since 2001, according to CBS Sports, and Trump has attended UFC events with White. That relationship does not establish that White will take the White House position.
The next clear update is expected after Monday’s meeting, when White or the White House could confirm whether the offer has been accepted.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.