UFC president and CEO Dana White confirmed on Saturday that he will sit down with President Trump on Monday to talk about taking over as White House press secretary. Speaking to reporters in London, White said he was heading to Washington for the meeting and brushed off questions about juggling his fight-promotion empire with a top administration job.
“We have a meeting on Monday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that,” White said, declining to elaborate on his discussions with the president. When asked how he could balance multiple roles, he replied, “I have a lot of jobs already.”
Earlier in the day, White posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself standing behind the White House briefing room podium on his Instagram story, with the caption “On to the next chapter.” He then shared a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post in which the president said he had offered White the job.
Trump wrote that he had “requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country,” naming UFC fighters Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris. “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
The UFC chief has grown close to Trump in recent years. Over the summer, the promotion hosted a fight on the White House South Lawn as part of America’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 80th birthday celebrations. Andrew Schleimer, CEO of UFC’s parent company, said the event lost $30 million.
The White House has been without a permanent press secretary since Karoline Leavitt left in August. Political commentator Katie Zacharia briefly held the role but was dismissed after less than a week, following reports that she had falsely marketed herself as an attorney without passing the bar exam.
The search for a new press secretary comes amid broader staff changes after Democrats made major gains in the 2026 midterms. Former chief of staff Susie Wiles departed weeks after Trump publicly praised her as “my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence.” Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump adviser and former deputy chief of staff, replaced Wiles on Friday, a move that has signaled a more hardline direction in the West Wing.
White’s potential appointment would mark an unusual crossover from sports entertainment into presidential communications, but it fits a pattern of Trump tapping loyalists from outside traditional political circles. Whether White would actually step away from his UFC duties remains unclear, but his Monday meeting with Trump could provide answers.
