Katie Zacharia’s time as White House press secretary lasted less than one week. President Donald Trump hired her and then she was reportedly let go on Friday afternoon, a week later, the White House confirmed.
Her first briefing, questions about her legal credentials and two difficult interviews on Fox News put her under growing pressure before her sudden exit on Friday.
A rushed hiring
Trump at first seemed fine with leaving the press secretary job empty following the departure of long-term aide Karoline Leavitt. On Wednesday, October 7, he had a phone call with Zacharia and was impressed. She flew to Washington DC to meet him in person on Friday, October 9, and was announced as Leavitt’s successor within hours.
Trump cited her “unblemished record of support” for his presidency and her regular TV appearances. She was a popular MAGA defender on cable, while living in California.
On Thursday, Zacharia described the process of her hiring. Speaking to Jack Posobiec, the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist who now hosts on the pro-Trump streaming channel Real America’s Voice, she said she “never had a full briefing beforehand.”
{{/usCountry}}On Thursday, Zacharia described the process of her hiring. Speaking to Jack Posobiec, the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist who now hosts on the pro-Trump streaming channel Real America’s Voice, she said she “never had a full briefing beforehand.”
{{/usCountry}}She laid out her week like this: “Wednesday phone call; Thursday flight; Friday meeting; Saturday flight; Sunday flight; Monday, Columbus Day, federal holiday. Start work, wants a brief Tuesday morning.”
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The first briefing
Zacharia appeared in the briefing room for the first time on Tuesday, her second day on the job. She left after just 14 minutes.
According to The Independent, she began by saying she was “so honored” to work for Trump and had “wanted to work for him for a very long time.” She then spent about six minutes reading haltingly from prepared remarks full of praise for Trump. She also spoke about his successes from past months, including what she called a “historic one-day war” against Venezuela.
When she took questions, she first called on a reporter from Breitbart News. Next was Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked if the US has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Zacharia could not answer and said she would “have to get back to [him] on that.”
Then came a Daily Mail reporter, who asked if Trump was still thinking of firing Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle. As per reports, Zacharia said Trump had asked Guilfoyle to resign.
The Independent said the Mail’s follow-up question was what made things go wrong. She was asked how she would manage the tough job while raising four children, given that her predecessor chose to step down over balancing the role with just two.
“The idea of not spending evenings with my kid kids are is completely unacceptable,” she said. Then she added: “So my president - excuse me, my husband - is out here.”
As per reports, she tried to recover from the laughter in the room by calling Trump “the most family-friendly president we’ve ever had.” She then ended the briefing, saying Trump was “heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there.” The president was not due to leave for Alaska for several hours.
Backlash and questions over her credentials
The Independent said the briefing left journalists stunned and MAGA insiders unimpressed. A former Trump administration official called it “a train wreck,” according to the outlet. The same person had earlier called her a “joke hire” who would likely be “gone in six months.” Separately, a current official told MS NOW she had “got off on the wrong foot” and needed to “get much better, fast."
In public, the White House stood by her. As per CNN, communications director Steven Cheung called her “uniquely qualified and whip smart.” The Independent reported that he also called her debut “a tremendous start.”
Then her background came under the spotlight. Trump’s Truth Social post announcing her job called her “an attorney,” but she failed the bar exam. She admitted this to Sean Hannity on Thursday night. CNN reported that she repeatedly shared stories and posts that called her an attorney in recent years.
Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the first Trump White House, spoke to CNN. “Between her lying about being an attorney and that humiliating debut, I have to imagine her West Wing colleagues are absolutely livid,” she said.
The criticism also came from the right. Conservative podcaster Meghan McCain wrote on X: “One of the biggest problems with the administration right now is every issue facing Americans is serious and all they do is keep hiring deeply unserious people to represent them.”
Tough Fox News interviews and the exit
Zacharia may have hoped two Fox News interviews would help her image. Instead, they went the other way.
On Thursday night, Hannity, a friend and informal advisor to Trump, repeatedly challenged her, according to CNN. He called her debut briefing “widely panned.” She said she had “very little prep time.” As the segment ended, she told him: “I will be very prepared, Sean, and I will step up to the duty President Trump has asked me to as press secretary.”
On Friday morning, “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt showed sympathy and said, “You were just thrown into this role,” as per CNN. But co-host Lawrence Jones said, “It’s been a tough week for you.” He asked if she wished she had told the president that she never passed the bar exam.
“Those questions weren’t asked,” she replied. “I’m being hired as White House press secretary, not White House counsel.”
She also blamed the “legacy media,” saying unnamed outlets wanted to “put the focus and attention on me.” When Jones asked, “Do you think you still have the confidence of the president?” she said, “I’m standing here.”
That afternoon, Trump fired her. He spoke gently and told reporters he had asked her to “reconsider” the job out of concern for her well-being. “Katie, do you need this?” he said he told her. “I don’t think you need this.” He also said the media had treated her “pretty nastily.”
Zacharia has not yet commented in public on leaving the job.