For a brief period over the weekend, it looked like United States President Donald Trump had zeroed in on a new White House press secretary: Dana White.
A stocky former fighter with a shaved head and a penchant for wearing black, White currently serves as the chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts company that counts Trump among its fans.
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But on Sunday night, after hours of speculation, Trump put an end to the rumours he himself started.
“I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea,” Trump said from an airport tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida. “And there’s only one Dana. He’s great.”
Just a day earlier, Trump had posted a message to his Truth Social platform, purporting to offer White the press secretary job.
“I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States,” Trump wrote on Saturday.
He proceeded to explain – in seemingly tongue-in-cheek style – that he had asked White to bring along fighters like Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov as “assistants”.
The post was accompanied by images of the muscle-bound fighters, several of them baring their teeth.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump continued in his post. “Dana, please take the job!”
Testing ideas in public?
Trump has a history of unconventional picks for public office. The press secretary role remains vacant after Trump briefly appointed political commentator Katie Zacharia to the job in October.
Zacharia lasted five days, the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary in history.
Critics questioned her legal credentials and her job performance. At her inaugural briefing, she struggled to deliver her opening remarks, and the meeting ended within 15 minutes.
White would likewise have been an out-of-the-box choice to serve as press secretary. But political insiders say Trump has an affinity for pushing the envelope of what is acceptable in Washington, DC.
“Knowing President Trump as I do, I believe he was partly serious,” Rob Arlett, a Republican strategist and former Delaware campaign manager for Trump, told Al Jazeera.
“He and Dana White share a longstanding friendship and business relationship dating back more than 25 years, when Trump supported the UFC by hosting events at his Atlantic City casino. Their mutual loyalty and trust remain strong.”
Arlett believes Trump often floats ideas publicly to gauge reactions before deciding his next move.
It’s also part of the president’s strategy, he said, to generate headlines, test public opinion and assess the response.
Who is Dana White?
Born on July 28, 1969, in Manchester, Connecticut, White is a two-time college dropout and former boxer who turned a passion for fighting into a billion-dollar enterprise.
He is also one of Trump’s longtime political supporters. In December 2015, White endorsed the Republican leader’s bid for the presidency, even though Trump was considered a long shot at the time.
“You will never hear me say a negative thing about Donald Trump,” White told TMZ Sports. “Donald will get my vote.”
Trump went on to win the 2016 presidential election in his first successful bid for public office.
The two men’s careers have been intertwined for decades, though. White began his career running gyms in cities like Boston and Las Vegas, and eventually, he started to manage champion fighters like Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
It was the 1990s, and both men were competitors in a new competition circuit known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The tournament was designed to bring different martial arts, like jujitsu and wrestling, together in one arena.
White would ultimately be credited with transforming the sport into an international commercial success.
He became president of the UFC in 2001, after the businessmen Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta bought the company for $2m.
But the sport was struggling at first, according to White’s own account. Critics slammed its tournaments as too violent and unregulated.
“It was basically considered a blood sport,” White told the Republican National Convention in 2016, as he rallied on behalf of Trump’s campaign. “State athletic commissions didn’t support us. Arenas around the world refused to host our events. Nobody took us seriously. Nobody – except Donald Trump.”
During the first year of White’s leadership at the UFC, Trump arranged to host the tournament at his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He did so again the following year.
White credits the move with helping the UFC gain mainstream acceptance.
“Donald was the first guy that recognised the potential that we saw in the UFC and encouraged us to build our business,” White said.
He has since campaigned for Trump in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections, donating tens of thousands to his campaign. In 2020, for instance, White donated $1m to America First Action, a pro-Trump political action committee.
A tale of two men
Trump and White have continued to enjoy a close relationship since the Republican leader’s return to office.
In June, Trump hosted a UFC tournament on the White House lawn as part of the festivities for the 250th anniversary of US independence.
And over the weekend, White acknowledged he had plans to meet Trump in Washington, DC, on Monday.
“I’m flying to Washington, DC, right now,” White told reporters at a news conference. However, he appeared dismissive of the prospect of joining Trump’s administration.
“I’ve got a lot of jobs already,” he quipped. Since 2023, White has served as the CEO of the UFC, as well as its president.
White has no previous government experience. But some experts say that might not be disqualifying under Trump’s leadership.
“Trump likes to think outside the box and be the first to do something to stand out from the others,” Ihsan Alkhatib, a lawyer and political science professor at Murray State University in Kentucky, told Al Jazeera.
“But the position requires a set of skills that Dana White doesn’t have,” Alkhatib added.
The lack of experience prompted some critics to question Trump’s decision-making abilities when he first floated the idea of naming White as press secretary.
Still, Alkhatib explained that other presidents have likewise faced pushback over decisions to appoint unconventional candidates to public office.
The scenario is “not as unusual as it might sound”, Alkhatib said, offering an example. “George W Bush wanted to elevate his personal lawyer and White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to the US Supreme Court, and she was definitely not qualified for the position.”
White’s appointment, however, would likely have generated further controversy had Trump pursued it.
White has been married to Anne Stella since 1996, but in 2022, a video posted on social media showed White slapping her during an argument at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico.
White later apologised for his behaviour. In a statement to the media at the time, he said, “There’s no defense for this, and people should not be defending me, no matter what. All the criticism I’ve received this week is 100% warranted.”
Trump had four White House press secretaries during his first term, from 2017 to 2021. So far, during his second, he has had two: Karoline Leavitt and Zacharia.
The post has been vacant since October 16. Trump is still without a chief spokesperson.
Source: www.aljazeera.com
