Perspective: A new kind of White House press secretary

Dana White, UFC president and CEO, speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington.

There has been no White House press secretary for almost a month. But have you really noticed?

Katie Zacharia held the position for 5 days in the middle of October, but her lone briefing was … brief and not well-reviewed.

After several secretary-less weeks, President Trump declared in an online post that he would ask Dana White, the head of the UFC, to take the job, calling him "a violent Fighter and Warrior." Reporters imagined how the CEO of a martial arts league might answer a sharp question with a swift kick to their journalistic chops. "What's the President's plan to bring down inflation?" Then, Bang! Thwap! Ooof!

The president later clarified that he, "was only kidding," about Dana White. He added wistfully, "You wouldn't mess around with him so much."

Even as the number of White House press briefings has declined during the second Trump administration, the president himself has had almost 500 "interactions" with the press: in interviews and press conferences, or impromptu Q&As at a ceremony, aboard Air Force One or while walking to the new White House helipad.

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