‘Of course, I was kidding’: Donald Trump on US press secretary offer to UFC chief Dana White

Weeks after the row over appointment of White House press secretary Katie Zacharia which led to her resignation in less than a week, US President Donald Trump is in a fresh soup, this time over the appointment of her successor.

Trump said he had offered the role of press secretary to his longtime friend Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, a day later, he said he ‘was kidding’ after social media users pointed that the president might have confused his friend for Dana W White, a former Assistant to the secretary of defense.

Talking to reporters a day after his viral post, Trump reiterated that it was only a joke. “Of course, I was kidding,” Trump was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

“And you can see that because I put all of the great fighters as his assistants, that they’re all going to come to him. But it was just a little fun.”

This comes as Trump continues to search for a new press secretary following Karoline Leavitt’s departure and Katie Zacharia’s brief stint.

Trump, in a post on Saturday, wrote he had offered the job to White and asked him to bring a list of champion fighters as his assistants. Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison were among those in the list. The latter two will face each other Saturday at UFC 334 inside Madison Square Garden.

“When you look at the fighters that I put in, that’s why I said some don’t come from our country. They come from parts unknown. They come from a lot of areas and very rough areas,” Trump said further.

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Later, Trump clarified saying, “I posted the greatest wrestlers and UFC fighters in the world, right?” he added. “Like Khabib, like Justin Gaethje, and you see a lot of rough faces there. And you would have thought that people would have said he’s having a good time. I will tell you, I was only kidding, but Dana loves the idea.”

However, the UFC CEO has declined the offer, CNN cited people aware of the matter as saying.

Earlier, Trump had said he would entertain the idea of rapper Nicki Minaj assuming the role. The rapper Minaj had publicly extended support to Trump since last year and had took part at a rally in Michigan ahead of the midterm elections. Surprisingly, on Saturday, Trump came up with this post: “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.”

Briefly after Trump’s post, White went on to share a photo of himself standing behind a White House podium with the caption: “On to the next chapter”, as an Instagram story. During a press conference after a Zuffa Boxing event in London, White said he would meet Trump on Monday and declined to explain further details. “We have a meeting Monday, so I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about after that,” said White, who is expected to attend UFC 334.

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Katie Zacharia’s five-day stint

Following Katie Zacharia’s five-day stint as the press secretary and the controversial resignation, the post has been lying vacant. Zacharia came under fire over her legal credentials after The Wall Street Journal reported that she did not pass California’s bar exam following her graduation from law school in 2011.

The scrutiny intensified further after Zacharia was asked where she had passed the bar exam following her first White House press briefing on Tuesday. “When I moved to China,” she replied, without identifying a jurisdiction, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Zacharia, who spent merely five days on the job, has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer. However, media reviews of attorney registration records have found no public listing showing that she was admitted to practise in the US jurisdictions they examined. Zacharia’s only appearance at the James S Brady press briefing room podium on October 13 drew attention and online mockery