President Donald Trump has publicly asked Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to become White House press secretary, days after Republicans lost both houses of Congress.

In a Saturday social media post, Trump said White would be unlike any previous holder of the role, described him as a fighter and a warrior, and appealed to him to take the job. He also asked White to bring six well known UFC athletes to serve as aides, even though some are not American, saying they were needed to stand up to the left. The fighters he named included Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, both from a Muslim majority region of Russia, as well as Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison, whose surname he misspelled.

The post came with pictures, including an image that appeared to show White at the briefing room lectern. White later shared a similar picture of himself in that room with a caption about starting the next chapter. Some reports then said he had turned the idea down and that an aide to the president had treated it as a joke.

White was in London on Saturday night for a boxing card. Asked about the offer afterwards, he said he was already flying to Washington and would meet Trump on Monday, without saying whether he would accept. He noted that he already holds several jobs. Besides running the UFC he leads a slap fighting promotion, has launched a boxing company, and last year joined the board of Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. His fortune from the fight business has been estimated at more than $600 million, far above the roughly $195,000 salary of the press secretary post.

The job has been empty since mid October, when Katie Zacharia left after fewer than five days. She had succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down at the end of August.

White is a longtime friend and political ally of Trump. He has credited the president with helping to keep the UFC alive by hosting early events at a casino in Atlantic City, spoke at Republican conventions, and appeared at Trump's 2024 victory night. This summer the UFC staged a fight event at the White House. The administration's communications director, a former UFC spokesman, publicly urged White to say yes.