Key facts
- Trump said White loves the idea of being press secretary but that the November 7 offer was a joke.
- Trump said he will speak with White on November 9 about other matters.
- Trump did not say who supported the idea of White as press secretary.
- The White House press secretary role has been vacant for three weeks since Katie Zacharia resigned.
President Donald Trump said on November 8 that he "was only kidding" when he announced a day earlier that he had offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Speaking to reporters on his way back to the White House from his beach club in Florida, Trump explained the premise of his joke: if the UFC boss, a devoted fan of the president, took over the briefing room flanked by six fighters, reporters "wouldn't mess around with him so much." He added: "So I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy."
Earlier on November 8, the president shared an animated AI cartoon made by one of his supporters on social media, which showed UFC fighters beating up journalists. In it, one fighter, Josh Hokit, repeats a racist remark about Michelle Obama that he made during the UFC event at the White House on Trump's birthday in June.
Trump said his mock announcement that White would become his spokesperson, in a social media post on November 7, "was an example of something where I was kidding, and then people said, 'You know, that's actually a pretty good idea'." He did not say who supported the idea.
The first in a series of taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads broadcast by the White House before the midterms closed with images of the UFC fight on Trump's birthday and remarks about him from White, who could be heard saying: "He is the toughest, most resilient human being I have ever met in my life."
The role of White House press secretary has been vacant for three weeks. Trump's previous pick, commentator Katie Zacharia, resigned after trying and failing to dodge questions about why she described herself as an attorney despite having failed the bar exam.