WASHINGTON (AP) — After bringing UFC to the White House lawn this summer, President Donald Trump has now brought it to the briefing room, too.
Trump made a surprise appearance before reporters Monday with UFC chief Dana White and briefly stood aside as his longtime friend took questions — milking a joke that began over the weekend, when Trump said he had offered White the job of White House press secretary.
“I’ve always wanted to do this," White said, before bellowing, “Who has the first question?” He then clarified, “I have zero political aspirations.”
The joke — and the briefing — were the latest in a series of unexpected choices by the president since Republicans’ sweeping losses during last week’s midterm elections. Trump's briefing room stop was so hastily organized that officials didn’t have time to affix the presidential seal to the lectern from which he spoke.
The president had announced on social media Saturday that he wanted “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior" as his next chief spokesman — catching White off-guard at a boxing match in London. “He called me and told me that he had done this," White said Monday. “The last 24 hours of my life has been insane.”
Trump said he had been having a “very bad press day” and thought suggesting White as the 38th White House press secretary in the nation’s history might be good for a laugh.
“We thought we’d have a little fun and we brought Dana here," Trump said. “He would be fantastic.”
White tells Trump, ‘I do not want to be in politics, no.’
Some reporters in the press room played along. White was asked if he had any advice for Trump on the possibility of issuing a posthumous pardon for Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader.
“I don’t advise the president on anything ever,” White responded. “But yeah, I think it’s fair.” Trump then interjected to say, “I’d give Pete Rose a pardon.”
At one point, White marveled, “I can’t believe you actually have questions for me.”
Trump eventually took over. But after answering about half an hour of questions on the midterms, the war in Iran and a variety of serious topics, the president turned to White and asked, “Would you like to be press secretary of the United States of America" or “just want to stay with this ridiculous UFC?”
“Thank you for the offer,” White said, before allowing, “I do not want to be in politics, no.”
Trump post-midterm moves have been peculiar
In the hours after Trump's Saturday post landed, neither the White House nor UFC would provide clarity on whether it was serious. Then, on Sunday night, Trump finally said, “I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy.”
Trump has long relished doing the norm-busting unexpected as president, but he's leaned even more into that tendency around the election.
The day before balloting began, Trump used what was billed as a speech outlining his closing argument for why his party deserved to continue to control Congress to instead talk up his costly and problem-plagued effort to overhaul the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool.
On Wednesday, after Democrats won all over the country, including notching Senate seats in deep red states like Texas, South Carolina and Kansas, he took reporters on a tour of the White House ballroom’s construction site and even signed a steel beam.
The following day, Trump declared the Oval Office would become a national monument — even though that won't prevent future presidents from undoing the gilded flourishes he's packed it with.
On Friday, the White House promoted a glitzy new website celebrating plans for a towering memorial arch in Trump's honor, despite a court order blocking work on it.
The White House press secretary position is open due to the brief, tumultuous week when Trump tried out Katie Zacharia as press secretary. She struggled in her sole appearance before reporters and left the job after five days.
The post had been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August.
Trump and White go way back
Trump has frequently attended UFC events with White. The pair have been friends for decades, and White spoke at the last three Republican National Conventions.
Trump even allowed White's sport to take over the White House’s South Lawn in June for the celebration of America’s 250th year of independence and the president’s own 80th birthday. A wire-mesh Octagon was constructed under ” The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lights, sound equipment and large screens.
“He’s really very unique,” Trump said, describing his friend, in the White House briefing room. “The only problem is he’ll talk for a little while and then he’s going to beat the hell out of you.”
