Welp, Nicki Minaj won’t be fielding reporter questions. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he offered UFC president and CEO Dana White the job of White House press secretary. White responded on Instagram with an image of himself behind the briefing room lectern, but he hasn’t publicly said whether he’s taking the job. The White House and UFC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, where he also suggested White bring several UFC fighters along as “assistants.” Among the names he floated were Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, and Amanda Nunes. Trump ended the post with a direct appeal: “Dana, please take the job!”
White shared the lectern image with the caption “On to the next chapter,” then posted a screenshot of Trump’s statement. The Washington Post reported that Google’s SynthID tool indicated the image had been generated or edited with AI. The White House-affiliated Rapid Response 47 account also shared Trump’s post.
REELated:
Katie Zacharia is fired after 5 days. Who’s next? Nicki Minaj?
White and Trump are longtime allies. In June, the UFC staged a fight on the White House South Lawn as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary. The event streamed on Paramount+, and the guest list included Paramount CEO David Ellison and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a crossover of sports, media and politics that makes Saturday’s post feel a little less out of the blue.
The press secretary position has been vacant since Katie Zacharia’s departure in October. She held the job for five days after taking over from Karoline Leavitt. Whether Trump’s post leads to an actual appointment remains unclear.
