Stephen A. Smith Says ‘No Way in Hell’ to Being President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary

Stephen A. Smith has been spending plenty of time with President Donald Trump lately, but don’t expect to see him behind the White House podium.

C-SPAN posted a video to YouTube on Thursday, November 12, showing the 59-year-old ESPN personality leaving the White House after sitting down with Trump, 80. Smith briefly stopped to talk with reporters before heading out.

As he walked away, one reporter shouted, “What about the press secretary role? Did you discuss that?”

Smith turned around and answered, “No, we did not.”

Another reporter pressed, “Did he offer you it?”

“No way in hell,” Smith fired back, sending the whole group into laughter.

The job has been open since October 16, when Katie Zacharia exited after just five days. As Globe previously reported, Zacharia, 41, is reportedly hoping to win the job back now that the post remains unfilled.

Zacharia replaced Karoline Leavitt, who held the role from the start of Trump’s second term until she stepped down at the end of August. Leavitt, 28, welcomed her second child in May.

“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary,” she wrote on X.

Smith isn’t the only big name tied to the job. In a November 7 Truth Social post, Trump claimed he’d offered the position to his pal Dana White, president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). After White, 57, turned up at the White House and stepped up to the press secretary’s podium, Trump admitted it was all a joke.