WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had asked mixed martial arts promoter Dana White to serve as White House press secretary and called on him tobring some fighters along as assistants "even though some are not from our country."
White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a "violent Fighter and Warrior," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump asked for six current or formerUFC titleholders to join White, including two athletes from Russia's Dagestan region,Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov;Americans Justin Gaethje, DanielCormier and "Kayla Harris," likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and AmandaNunes, a Brazilian native who became an American citizen last year.
"We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left," Trump wrote. White and UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings, did not immediately return requests for comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Karen Brettell; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Sergio Non, Cynthia Osterman and Alistair Bell)
