Dana White appears at White House briefing with Trump; Dmitriev reacts

UFC chief executive Dana White appeared at a White House press briefing alongside US President Donald Trump in early November 2026. The appearance followed Trump's public suggestion, days earlier, that White could take the job of White House press secretary, an offer that was widely reported and that White answered with a playful social media post. It was not clear how seriously the offer was meant.

Trump's post also floated the idea of bringing UFC fighters into his team. Among the athletes named were two figures from Russia's Dagestan region, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, which gave the story a Russian angle.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, a state-backed sovereign investor) and a Kremlin envoy on economic ties with the US, commented on the appearance. He had earlier said, in April 2025, that Russia was working on the return of UFC tournaments to the country. White has said the promotion could go back to Russia if relations between Washington and Moscow improve.

The briefing therefore became a reference point for later talk of UFC events in Russia.