Reports that US President Trump had approached Dana White, president of mixed martial arts organization UFC, about becoming White House press secretary attracted attention over the authenticity of the claim and what might happen next after Trump said it had been a joke.
On the 8th, Trump told reporters in Florida that his call on White in a social media post on the 7th to “please take the job” had been a joke. He said that people had simply begun saying it was actually a good idea, even though he had said it as a joke, seeking to clarify the facts.
On the 7th, White said at a press conference after a boxing event in the UK that he would travel to Washington and meet with Trump on the 9th. He added, however, that he already had more than enough work, a remark interpreted as suggesting an interest in taking the position.
Against the backdrop of the political situation following the midterm elections, Trump has publicly discussed appointments of aides who take a hard-line stance on immigration policy. The context of the joke involving White could become a focus of coverage of the administration’s press posture.
The original title was “Trump Says Asked UFC’s White to Be His Press Secretary as a Joke” (excerpt), and the report was reconstructed in Japanese based on coverage by bloomberg.com.