President Trump may want a fighter in his press briefing room — but the internet couldn’t resist a little name-game after he asked UFC boss Dana White to take the job.
After Trump announced Saturday that he had offered the Ultimate Fighting Championship boss the job of White House press secretary, social media users began to joke that the president may have confused the longtime MMA promoter with a former top Pentagon spokeswoman who shares his name.
The theory, which quickly gained traction on X, jokingly suggested Trump may have been pitched Dana W. White, a former assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs and chief Pentagon spokesperson, before supposedly mistaking her for the UFC boss.
“I guarantee you someone recommended her to Trump, and he thought they meant UFC Dana White and nobody is allowed to correct him lol,” one X user joked in a post that garnered more than seven million views.
Others piled on with their own theories about the supposed mix-up, with one user comparing the situation to the infamous 2020 Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference.
“So what are the chances someone suggested this Dana White and Trump pulled a Four Seasons Total Landscaping?” another user said.
But Dana W. White herself appeared to get the last laugh on the false claims.
“To everyone texting me congratulations: thank you, but you have the wrong Dana White,” she wrote in a Saturday LinkedIn post.
“I’ve stood at a podium and taken questions from the Pentagon press corps. I have never stood in an octagon. I’d like to keep it that way,” she continued.
“It is nice for once that, that Dana White is being confused with this Dana White. Best of luck to the next White House Press Secretary!”
Dana W. White served as the Pentagon’s top public affairs official under then-Defense Secretary James Mattis during Trump’s first administration, overseeing communications and media relations for the Defense Department.
Her background also includes working as an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal, a publicist for Fox News and a foreign policy adviser to the late Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.
There is no evidence that Trump confused the two — and the speculation appears to be nothing more than an internet-fueled joke.
The UFC boss has a longstanding relationship with the president, having been a vocal supporter for years. He spoke on stage at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Trump announced Saturday that he had offered male White the press secretary position, calling him a “violent Fighter and Warrior” and suggesting that he bring along several UFC fighters as assistants.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
White shared an AI-generated image of himself behind the White House briefing room podium on Instagram, captioning it “On to the next chapter.”
He later told reporters at a boxing event in London that he was flying to Washington to meet with Trump Monday, saying he would have more to discuss after the meeting.
The White House has not confirmed whether White will take the job.
