He said he was only kidding.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Reuters reported Sunday that President Trump said he was “only kidding” when he suggested Dana White, the chief executive of the UFC, could become White House press secretary. “I will tell you, I was only kidding,” he told reporters. He said White “loves the idea,” and he described the suggestion as “just a little fun.” He said he had posted photographs of UFC fighters as potential assistants as part of the joke. He said White would visit him at the White House on Monday, and that the meeting was planned for other reasons.

The Associated Press, in a dispatch carrying its byline, reported the same walk-back. Trump, speaking to reporters in Florida before leaving for the White House, said, “I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy,” and that it was “just a little fun.” The AP said White is set to visit on Monday. Saturday’s post — “a violent Fighter and Warrior,” and the line about the “Lunatic Left” — is already in this paper. This desk does not print that White accepted. It does not print that he declined. Those sentences are not in the Reuters story, and they are not in the AP story.

I will tell you, I was only kidding

The photograph is Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. Trump is speaking. His mouth is open. He is on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach. Jacquelyn Martin, AP. Dana White is not in the frame. It is not Monday, and it is not the South Lawn in June.