President Donald Trump said Friday he had advised Katie Zacharia to reconsider staying in the White House press secretary job, only a week after naming her to the position. A senior White House official separately told Fox News that Zacharia was “transitioning out” of the role.
Speaking with reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said he had spoken to Zacharia shortly before appearing and told her she did not have to continue if she did not want to. He also said the job might not be right for her. Asked whether that meant she had been fired, Trump said no, adding that he wanted her to have a good life and that the media had treated her harshly.
Zacharia’s appointment was announced Oct. 9, and she gave her first White House press briefing on Oct. 13. The source account describes her time in the position as four days when Trump made his remarks. Her first briefing lasted 14 minutes, during which she took three questions from reporters. It drew attention for its short length and verbal stumbles, including a moment when she referred to her husband as “my president” before correcting herself.
In a Thursday appearance on “Hannity,” Zacharia addressed questions about her legal background. She said she had not passed a U.S. bar exam and had never obtained a U.S. law license. She explained that she had registered for the exam but expected to be living in China during the summer, making the result irrelevant to her plans. She said she sat for the exam rather than withdraw her registration.
The questions followed Trump’s description of Zacharia as an attorney when he announced her appointment. The source identifies her earlier work as senior communications adviser to Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, and as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.
Zacharia also defended her performance in the debut briefing during the television interview. She said she had been on the job for less than eight hours and had received a briefing book that morning. She told host Sean Hannity that she believed she had done her best under those circumstances.
The source compared the length of Zacharia’s debut with earlier press secretary briefings: Karoline Leavitt’s first lasted nearly 47 minutes, Sean Spicer’s roughly 79 minutes, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ about 23 minutes. It also reported that an unnamed White House official had told MS NOW that Zacharia’s tenure could be shorter than Anthony Scaramucci’s 10-day stint as White House communications director in 2017. The official was quoted as saying Zacharia had started poorly and needed to improve quickly.
The White House had publicly defended Zacharia on Wednesday. Steven Cheung, identified in the source as a White House spokesperson, called her a strong addition to the team and said she was qualified to communicate the administration’s work to the public.
The source also noted that the White House press office’s X account had not switched over to Zacharia and had not posted since Oct. 7. Trump’s Friday remarks and the senior official’s statement indicate a possible departure, while the supplied account does not provide a formal announcement detailing the timing or circumstances of her exit.
