UFC boss Dana White has declined Donald Trump’s ‘joke’ offer to become the next White House Secretary days after the President posted about it.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he had offered the job to Ultimate Fighting Championship chief White, a ‘violent Fighter and Warrior’, to help tackle the ‘Lunatic Left’.
He also invited Mr White to recruit MMA fighters Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris to help him, even though ‘some are not from our Country’.
Following Trump’s post, White posted an Instagram photo of himself behind the podium in the White House press briefing room with the caption ‘On to the next chapter’.
Trump later confirmed the offer was a joke: ‘We were having a very bad press day, and I don’t know why, I thought of his name; he’s been a friend for a long time.
‘I said I think I’m going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary. I said it to a group of the press, and that was it. I was sort of kidding.’
White told the room of reporters after Trump offered him the job again: ‘Thank you for the offer, sir. I do not want to be in politics.’
But hours later, in a bizarre post on Truth Social, the President shared an AI video of White with the name tag ‘White House Press Secretary’ underneath it.
In the clip, White said: ‘Listen up. Everyone sit down and shut up right now. I’m not answering questions until you show some respect.’
A female reporter was heard saying: ‘But Mr White, the public has a right to know.’
The AI version of White screamed back: ‘I said shut up! You’ll speak when I say so. Now sit down and be quiet, or get out.’
White organized UFC Freedom 250, a cage fight staged on the White House lawn in June to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence and Trump’s 80th birthday.
The job of White House press secretary has been vacant since Katie Zacharia exited in October after just a few days on the job.
White has frequently clashed with reporters in the past, particularly after being questioned over MMA restarting soon after the Covid pandemic.
Trump and White’s business relationship goes back to 2001, when two UFC events were held at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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