Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief Dana White on Monday turned down US President Donald Trump’s apparently light-hearted offer to make him White House press secretary during a surprise appearance at a news conference.
Trump had stunned observers on Saturday by announcing on social media that he had asked White to take on the high-profile position. However, the 80-year-old president said a day later that he had been “only kidding”.
White, 57, visited the White House on Monday, where Trump brought him into the James Brady Briefing Room for an impromptu appearance before reporters.
“So let me ask you the big question. Would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America? Or do you just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC? Huh?” Trump asked.
“Thank you for the offer, sir. For the offer, I have no, no, I do not want to be in politics,” White replied.
Smiling, Trump headed out of the room, saying: “I am devastated to hear this. Goodbye, everybody.”
The press secretary’s position has been vacant since Katie Zacharia left on October 16 after less than a week in the post. Her combative predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, left in August after a year and a half in the job.
Trump’s announcement that he had offered the position to White, whom he described as a “violent Fighter and Warrior”, had fuelled speculation that he was considering a more aggressive communications strategy following the Republican Party’s midterm election defeat.
White is a long-time friend of Trump and helped organise a major UFC event on the White House lawn earlier this year.
However, Trump’s announcement had also prompted scepticism, particularly after he said on Sunday night that he had been joking.
‘Beat the hell out of you’
Introducing White at Monday’s news conference, Trump said he had been “having a little fun”.
“He’s a great guy,” Trump told the room full of reporters. “The only problem is he’ll talk for a little while and then he’s going to beat the hell out of you.”
Standing at the lectern in a black T-shirt and jacket, White appeared more accustomed to the UFC octagon, the enclosed fighting arena used for the sport’s bouts.
“I’ve always wanted to do this. Who has the first question?” he joked, before quickly adding: “I have zero political aspirations.”
White said the “last 24 hours of my life have been insane” since Trump announced the offer.
Asked by a journalist to confirm that he had declined the job, White said: “I don’t tell the president ‘no’ to anything… I didn’t want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first.”
Trump then took questions on a range of other issues, including the wars in Iran and Ukraine, the possible impeachment of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and a spy scandal involving Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
