President Donald Trump said Sunday he was joking when he announced an offer to make UFC CEO Dana White his next White House press secretary, though the two still plan to meet in Washington on Monday to discuss other issues. “That was an example of something where I was kidding, and people said that’s actually a pretty good idea,” Trump told reporters, adding that “Dana loves the idea” and is visiting the White House with his assistants.
Meanwhile, former Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana W. White addressed speculation that the administration had confused her name on a shortlist of candidates with the mixed martial arts executive. Thanking people who mistakenly reached out to her in a LinkedIn post, she wrote, “I have never stood in an octagon. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Trump had posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he offered the press secretary job to the UFC chief and asked him to bring fighters including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison as assistants to “defend us against the Lunatic Left.” CNN reported Saturday that White declined the offer, while the UFC executive told reporters in London that he already had “a lot of jobs” before flying to Washington for Monday’s Oval Office meeting.