After crushing midterm loss, Trump taps UFC boss Dana White for White House

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 — Facing an incoming Democratic congress, US President Donald Trump struck a combative tone Saturday, offering friend and “violent fighter” Dana White the White House press secretary job and ordering the Justice Department to investigate his opponents.

Democrats handed Trump’s Republicans a blowout defeat in midterm elections this week and will take control of both chambers of Congress in January. They are promising robust investigations of Trump and his administration.

Trump, however, showed no signs of being chastened.

He offered the press secretary post to White, a loyal supporter who is head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts organisation.

“Dana, please take the job!” Trump posted on social media, describing White as a “violent Fighter and Warrior.”

Speaking to reporters following a boxing event in London late Saturday, White said he was flying to Washington “right now” and will meet with Trump on Monday.

“I’ll have more to talk about after that,” he said.

White had earlier shared a photo — possibly AI-generated — showing him behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room, captioned “On to the next chapter.”

Trump on Saturday also ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats for “extortion at the highest level.”

“The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people,” he wrote, adding that he was ordering the Justice Department to “look into this criminal act.”

Denying that anyone in his administration had committed impeachable offenses, Trump called for prison time for “these EXTORTIONISTS.”

Combative

Saturday’s announcements came a day after Trump appointed Stephen Miller to be his next chief of staff, describing the combative senior adviser as “a great fighter”.

He replaces Susie Wiles, whose departure marks the first staffing fallout from the Republican election debacle.

The pugilistic posts echoed comments Trump made after a smaller midterm defeat in 2018, when he said his White House would assume “a war-like posture” against any investigations. Trump was subsequently impeached in 2019 and 2021.

The White House has been without a press secretary since October 16 when Katie Zacharia left the position after less than a week on the job.

White, 57, is president and CEO of the UFC, the largest and most successful company in the world of mixed martial arts whose violent cage fights are broadcast across the globe.

Trump listed six UFC fighters that he hoped White would bring to the White House as advisers, “even though some are not from our Country”.

“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” he said of the fighters, who include two Russians and one Brazilian.

Trump and White are old friends, and the US leader has often tried to associate his MAGA brand of politics with the hugely popular UFC.

On his 80th birthday in June, UFC held a bloody cage match on the White House South Lawn. He has also attended bouts in Miami, New York and New Jersey since winning his second White House term.

When Trump won re-election in 2024, White appeared alongside the Republican for his victory speech.

‘Criminal act’

If White formally accepts, he will have his work cut out for him.

Trump faces a radically transformed and hostile political landscape after Democrats seized both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterms.

With control of committees in both chambers, Democrats can summon officials, demand documents and hold public hearings, potentially putting Trump and his senior aides under intense scrutiny.

Likely probes include the Trump family’s business and cryptocurrency dealings, government contracts involving billionaire Elon Musk, cuts to federal agencies, immigration enforcement, the conduct of the Iran war and the handling of files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Lawyer up,” wrote incoming House Oversight Committee chairman Robert Garcia on X as results became clear on election night.

Democrats could pursue a third impeachment against Trump, though party leaders have not promised it.

While the House needs only a simple majority to impeach the president, removing him is a far larger obstacle that requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate — far beyond the party’s majority. — AFP