The Aporia · Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role

Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role

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Killough, K. (2026, November 9). Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role. Just The News. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/trump-says-he-was-only-kidding-about-offering-ufc-ceo-dana-white?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators

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Quick Summary

President Donald Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach that his recent announcement offering UFC CEO Dana White the position of White House press secretary was just a joke. In a post on Truth Social, Trump had suggested Dana White and several international fighters for the role, but after confusion and speculation, he clarified to reporters that it was meant as humor. The article reports on Trump’s clarification regarding the actuality of the job offer, emphasizing his statement that it was intended to be humorous rather than serious.

Written by AI on 2026-11-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 9, 2026, Donald Trump clarified on social media that his previous announcement offering the position of White House press secretary to Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), was a joke. Despite this clarification, White still plans to meet with Trump in Florida later that day to discuss the offer further. Initially, Trump had offered the job on Truth Social and suggested bringing mixed martial arts fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Amanda Nunes as assistants. The White House press secretary role has been vacant since a previous appointee was fired last month after a brief, poorly received debut briefing. While some see it as a joke, White's meeting with the president indicates there might be more to discuss beyond humor.

Written for “Trump Kidding About Dana White Press Secretary Offer” on 2026-11-09, grounded in this article and the 33 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.

No political leaning scored for article 138909 · logged 2026-11-09

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

95/100

Just The News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-11-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Just The News · 214 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Kevin Killough

43 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Hakeem Jeffries says he is a 'hard yes' for Hegseth impeachment

“I will tell you, I was only kidding.

2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role

2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Hakeem Jeffries says he is a 'hard yes' for Hegseth impeachment

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 43 articles by Kevin Killough →

Topics

Fla The Hill UFC West Palm Beach White House

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Dana White PERSON · 4× UFC ORG · 3× White House ORG · 3× Dana PERSON · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Fla GPE · 1× The Hill ORG · 1× Truth Social ORG · 1× West Palm Beach GPE · 1×

Narrative

I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris," he wrote.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-09

“I will tell you, I was only kidding.

2026-11-09 · Just The News

Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

Trump says he was 'only kidding' about offering UFC CEO Dana White White House press secretary role “Of course, I was kidding. asserted

I → say → role

And you can see that, because they put all of the great fighters as his assistants, that they’re all going to come with them. asserted

they → see → them

But it was, it was just a little fun,” Trump told reporters. asserted

Trump → tell → reporters

President Donald Trump on Sunday said that the suggestion he'd pick UFC CEO Dana White to serve as White House press secretary was a joke. asserted

he → say → secretary

“I will tell you, I was only kidding. asserted

I → tell → you

But Dana loves the idea, and there’s only one Dana, and he’s great," Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach, Fla, The Hill reported. asserted

Hill → love → Beach

President Trump announced on Truth Social that he offered the White House press secretary job to UFC CEO Dana White. asserted

he → announce → White

"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. asserted

White → announce → States

he → request → Makhachev

White later confirmed that a meeting was taking place at the White House on Monday to discuss the opportunity. asserted

meeting → confirm → opportunity

Trump said on Sunday that the meeting was taking place, but he repeated it was meant to be a joke. asserted

it → say → place

“Of course, I was kidding. asserted

I → kid → ?

And you can see that, because they put all of the great fighters as his assistants, that they’re all going to come with them. asserted

they → see → them

But it was, it was just a little fun,” Trump said. asserted

Trump → say → ?

The White House has yet to find a permanent replacement for Karoline Leavitt, who resigned earlier this year. asserted

who → have → Leavitt

Katie Zacharia, a political commentator, held the role for five days last month, but after questions arose over her legal qualifications, she was fired. asserted

she → hold → qualifications

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