Traders on Kalshi and Polymarket pushed odds for UFC boss Dana White becoming Trump’s press secretary below 20 cents after the president said the offer was a joke.
President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he had offered UFC CEO Dana White the role of White House press secretary, prompting immediate activity on two U.S. prediction‑market platforms. Traders on Kalshi and Polymarket initially priced White’s chances below 20 cents, and the odds collapsed to 1‑2 cents after Trump told reporters on Sunday the offer was a joke.
Kalshi added a Dana White press‑secretary contract at 19:12 UTC on Saturday. The first minutes saw volatile pricing between 3 and 58 cents, with a brief spike to 58 cents on 19:19 UTC before settling at 18 cents three minutes later. By 19:35 UTC the price had slipped to 7 cents and spent the remainder of the day fluctuating between 1 and 18 cents. On Sunday the contract traded mostly at 4‑6 cents before dropping to 1‑2 cents around the time Trump announced the offer was a joke. In total, about 3.16 million contracts exchanged hands, roughly 94 % of them at sub‑10‑cent levels.
Polymarket opened its Dana White contract at 19:41 UTC on Saturday, with the highest trade reaching 15 cents at 20:26 UTC. The contract hovered near 5 cents on Sunday and fell to around 2 cents on Monday. The market resolves “Yes” only if the White House formally announces White’s appointment. Approximately $70,000 changed hands across 398 trades, with seven of the eight largest bets placed on “No” shares, including a $7,732 purchase at nearly 99 cents on Monday morning.
Prediction markets tied to White House events have attracted regulatory scrutiny before; a former White House teleprompter operator was ordered to pay $172,539 for insider trading on Kalshi bets related to Trump’s speeches. While neither platform currently shows a clear favorite for the press‑secretary role, side markets on Kalshi continue to track related questions, such as whether White will publicly decline the job before Nov. 8 or visit the White House before Nov. 10. Observers will watch for any further statements from Trump or White that could shift market sentiment.
Future movements will hinge on any concrete confirmation from the White House, a formal acceptance or rejection by Dana White, and potential regulatory actions targeting prediction‑market trading around political events.
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