Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief Dana White turned down President Donald Trump’s – apparently jovial – offer of a press secretary position during a surprise appearance at the White House on Monday.
Trump stunned the world by declaring on social media on Saturday that he had asked White to take on the high-profile job – but a day later the 80-year-old president said he was “only joking.”
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The 57-year-old cage fighting boss visited the White House on Monday and Trump brought him in for a chaotic news conference in the James Brady briefing room.
“So let me ask you the big question. Would you like to be press secretary for the United States of America? Or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC? Huh?” » Trump said.
“Thank you for the offer, sir – for the offer, I don’t have, no – I don’t want to get political,” White replied.
Trump smiled and walked out of the room, saying, “I’m devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everyone.”
The position of press secretary has been vacant since the departure of Katie Zacharia on October 16, after less than a week in this position. His combative predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, left the post in August after a year and a half.
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Trump’s announcement that he had offered the top job to “violent fighter and warrior” White had sparked speculation that he was prepared to take an aggressive stance following the Republican Party’s resounding defeat in the midterm elections.
White is a longtime friend of the president and helped bring a massive UFC match to the White House lawn earlier this year.
But there was also some skepticism about the president’s announcement, and Trump said Sunday night that he was joking.
– ‘I beat you to death’ –
As he led White to the podium Monday, Trump said he “had a little fun.”
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“He’s a great guy,” Trump told a room full of reporters. “The only problem is he’ll talk for a little while and then he’ll beat you up.”
Standing in front of the lectern and wearing a black t-shirt and jacket, White looked like he would be most comfortable in the octagon – the ring used for UFC fights.
“I’ve always wanted to do this. Who has the first question?” he joked, before quickly adding: “I have no political aspirations.”
White added that “the last 24 hours of my life have been insane” since Trump made the announcement.
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When asked by a reporter to confirm that he said no to the job, White added: “I’m not saying ‘no’ to the president to anything…I didn’t want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first.”
Trump then answered a series of questions on bigger topics, ranging from the wars in Iran and Ukraine to the possible removal of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and the spying scandal that has engulfed Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
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