Washington: News conferences in the White House press briefing room are usually listed on the official schedule, released the night before.
There were no briefings, and no media events, on Donald Trump’s schedule for Monday afternoon (Washington time). So when a press wrangler appeared at 4.35pm and shouted that there would be a surprise briefing by the president , everyone scrambled.
Two minutes later, in he walked, flanked by none other than Ultimate Fighting Championship president and chief executive Dana White.
In retrospect, one might have predicted this. White had announced he was going to meet Trump on Monday, after the president publicly (but facetiously) offered him the job of White House press secretary .
And all of a sudden, there he was – standing behind the briefing room podium.
Eagle eyes noticed that the news conference was so spontaneous that staffers didn’t have time to attach the presidential seal to the podium. Some live streams missed the start of the president’s remarks.
But the most obvious sign that this was a surprise event was that half the chairs were empty. A presidential news conference would ordinarily have the room packed so full that you can barely find a spot to stand.
This masthead rushed over from the office, about a 10-minute walk away, and managed to catch most of the second half of the half-hour show.
After Trump gave a short rundown of the latest on Iran – which bore a close resemblance to his past eight months of obfuscations on ending the war – he invited White to the microphone.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” the UFC boss began. “Who wants the first question?”
He hastened to add that he harboured zero political aspirations, and that the past 24 hours of his life had been “insane”.
A reporter then asked White who would win in a UFC cage fight between Trump and former president Joe Biden.
White said Trump was “the toughest, most resilient human being that I have ever met in my entire life”.
Another inquired about whether the president should posthumously pardon baseball player and manager Pete Rose for his tax fraud convictions. White felt it would be fair to do so, and Trump agreed.
The stunt made for one of the more surreal moments in the press briefing room over the past two years – though undeniably, as Trump said, they were really just having “a little fun”.
Trump, in his revealing CBS 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, and in his jocularity with White, shows he can still be the charming showman when he wants to be; when he’s not consumed by anger or spite or conspiracy.
For others, though, it will affirm that as the sun begins to set on the Trump presidency, the whole thing has become a bit of a joke.
Indeed, there has not really been a permanent White House press secretary since Karoline Leavitt went on maternity leave in April.
She returned for a few weeks before quitting, and there has been no rush to replace her – save for the disastrous five-day tenure of commentator Katie Zacharia last month.
Trump affirmed that he was kidding when he offered White the job, which seems obvious. But it can be hard to tell. In this White House – especially after the midterm debacle – anything could happen.
Just to be sure, reporters checked again with White that he was not taking the gig. “Thank you for the offer – I do not want to be in politics,” he confirmed.
“I am devastated to hear this,” Trump said as they shook hands. “Goodbye, everybody.”
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