Trump says he was 'only kidding' on offering White the press secretary job
Seven Lights
President Trump said on Sunday that he “was only kidding” when he offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, closing out a day and a half of uncertainty over the post.
Speaking to reporters on the way back to the White House from his beach club in Florida, Mr. Trump explained the premise of the joke: if Mr. White took over the briefing room flanked by six UFC fighters, reporters “wouldn’t mess around with him so much.” “So I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy,” Mr. Trump said. It had been “just a little fun” to picture the scene, the Guardian reported.
Mr. Trump announced the offer on Truth Social on Saturday, naming “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” for the job, and said he had asked Mr. White to bring UFC fighters along as “assistants.” “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” the post said. It carried images including what appeared to be an artificially generated picture of Mr. White behind the podium in the press briefing room.
Mr. White, in London for a boxing event on Saturday, told a news conference that he planned to fly straight to Washington and meet Mr. Trump on Monday. Asked how he would balance the job with his existing positions in the fighting world, he said, “Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already.” He declined to discuss his conversations with the president. Before the news conference he shared Mr. Trump’s post on Instagram alongside a picture of himself at the briefing room lectern, with the words “On to the next chapter.” The White House and a UFC spokesman did not respond to inquiries on Saturday.
CNN reported on Saturday that Mr. White had declined the offer and that one presidential aide called it a joke.
The episode ran through the weekend as the president’s staff reshuffled after Republican losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections gave Democrats control of Congress. Mr. Trump named Stephen Miller to replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff, and Mr. Miller takes the post on Monday. PBS and NPR covered the White episode as part of the same disarray.
Mr. Trump’s Sunday remark left the offer unresolved. Mr. White’s meeting at the White House remained on the schedule for Monday.