President Donald Trump has made a surprising move by asking UFC chief executive officer Dana White to become the next White House press secretary. In addition to offering White the position, Trump requested that the fight promoter bring several "assistants" with him, noting that some of these individuals are not U.S. citizens.
On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had offered White the press secretary job, and even named a group of current and former UFC athletes—Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harrison—who he hoped would join White as part of his new team. Trump said that the presence of these fighters was necessary to "defend us" against what he called “the Lunatic
Left.”
The press secretary role under Trump has drawn significant attention in recent months. After Karoline Leavitt resigned from the position in August, Katie Zacharia was appointed but served for only five days, setting a new record as the shortest-serving press secretary in U.S. history.
It remains unconfirmed whether Trump has directly spoken to or personally approached Dana White beyond his public post on social media. White posted a photo of himself at the White House podium, captioned "On to the next chapter" on his Instagram story and a screenshot of the announcement, but within an hour of Trump's post, White's Twitter account only posted promotions to upcoming UFC fights.
The White House did not respond to request for comment by USA TODAY. White and UFC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MMA Junkie, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Reaction to Donald Trump asking Dana White to be the next press secretary
People took to social media to share their thoughts after President Donald Trump asked UFC boss Dana White to become White House press secretary.
Emily Condon and Jesse Yomtov contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump offers UFC's Dana White press secretary job, sparking passionate reactions
