President Trump may want a fighter in his press briefing room \u2014\u00a0but the internet couldn\u2019t resist a little name-game after he asked UFC boss Dana White to take the job.<\/p>\n
After Trump announced Saturday<\/a> that he had offered the Ultimate Fighting Championship\u00a0boss 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.<\/p>\n President Trump greets UFC CEO Dana White at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa on Aug. 5, 2026, in Las Vegas. Getty Images<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI guarantee you someone recommended her to Trump, and he thought they meant UFC Dana White and nobody is allowed to correct him lol,\u201d one X user joked in a post<\/a> that garnered more than seven million views.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what are the chances someone suggested this Dana White and Trump pulled a Four Seasons Total Landscaping?\u201d another user said.<\/a><\/p>\n But Dana W. White herself appeared to get the last laugh on the false claims.<\/p>\n \u201cTo everyone texting me congratulations: thank you, but you have the wrong Dana White,\u201d she wrote in a Saturday LinkedIn post.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve stood at a podium and taken questions from the Pentagon press corps. I have never stood in an octagon. I\u2019d like to keep it that way,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n Pentagon spokeswoman Dana W. White and Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie hold a joint press conference at the Pentagon on Oct. 19, 2017. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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!\u201d<\/p>\n Dana W. White served as the Pentagon\u2019s top public affairs<\/a> official under then-Defense Secretary James Mattis during Trump\u2019s first administration, overseeing communications and media relations for the Defense Department.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 2008 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n There is no evidence that Trump confused the two \u2014 and the speculation appears to be nothing more than an internet-fueled joke.<\/p>\n Dana White heads to UFC 330: Makhachev vs. Machado Garry on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Philadelphia. GC Images<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n