Trump Posts One-Minute Animation… UFC Fighters Take Down White House Reporters

Octagon stars storm the briefing room… Satire reflects hostility toward the press

An approximately one-minute animated video posted on Nov. 8 (local time) by former U.S. President Donald Trump to his social media platform, Truth Social, is drawing fierce backlash. The video, which the U.S. congressional news outlet The Hill said resembles the art style of the popular sitcom Family Guy, depicts fighters from the UFC mixed martial arts organization using force to subdue reporters in the White House briefing room.

In the video, UFC President Dana White appears at the White House briefing room podium as the new White House press secretary. When reporters ask tough questions, White calls out the fighters waiting nearby one by one, and the muscular athletes use force to knock down or drag away the journalists who asked them. Just as the entire press corps, which had been loudly protesting and calling it “fascism,” is pinned to the floor, President Trump walks to the podium and asks how the briefing went. White replies, “It was fiery, but mostly peaceful,” and Trump says, “Excellent,” before happily taking a swig of his cola.

The animation also features political mockery. When a reporter asks whether former President Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, will run for president in 2028, one fighter declares, “Michelle is a man.” The scene directly borrows a conspiracy theory espoused by UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit in an interview after a fight on the White House lawn last June.

The day before posting the video, Trump said he had formally offered White the job of White House press secretary, praising him as a “violent fighter and warrior.” Trump also called for top-tier combat sports stars including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison to join the press secretary’s office as “advisers,” describing them as “people who will protect us from the radical left.”

White is one of Trump’s closest allies, having maintained a close relationship with the president for 25 years. He is a key confidant who has delivered supporting speeches from the Republican National Convention stage three times. As speculation in Washington and the media remains divided over whether the offer will come to fruition, White plans to cut short his trip to the U.K. and return urgently to meet with Trump at the White House on the 9th.

The post of White House press secretary has been vacant since Karoline Leavitt resigned in August. Last month, Trump nominated conservative broadcaster Katie Zacharia for the role, but withdrew her nomination four days later amid questions about her qualifications and allegations of false claims about her background. The prevailing analysis is that Trump, who has long branded mainstream media outlets critical of him as “fake news” and recently barred some outlets from access, has turned his bitter confrontation with the press into a symbol of “violent suppression” in the video.