WASHINGTON, DC. USA. — Katie Zacharia is departing as White House press secretary, a person familiar with the matter said Friday, after a short and rocky tenure that was defined by questions about her professional background and lack of polish in fielding questions from journalists.
The person, granted anonymity to discuss a personnel decision not yet made public, said Zacharia would be transitioning out of the role. The shift comes after President Donald Trump cast significant doubt on her future earlier Friday (Saturday Australian time), telling reporters that he would have a discussion with her following his weekend travel — and that if he were her, he would reconsider the job.
Zacharia had come under immediate scrutiny when she appeared uncomfortable during her inaugural briefing on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time), delivering halting remarks touting the president and his accomplishments. Her 14-minute briefing was followed by criticism that the conservative commentator had long called herself a lawyer when she had not passed a bar exam nor was otherwise credentialed to practice.
Zacharia was a surprise choice when Trump announced her appointment on Oct. 9, as the successor to Karoline Leavitt, the youngest-ever White House press secretary who had been part of Trump’s inner circle for years. The chaotic nature of Zacharia’s appointment and subsequent downfall evoked some of the personnel messes of the president’s first term, which had largely been absent from his second.
In a lengthy exchange with reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said he told Zacharia that she might want to change her mind about the job, and said he thought she had been treated unfairly by the press.
“I told her, ‘I think you’re better off being happy,’” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn as he left for a rally in Georgia. “I said, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.’ I said, ‘You think about it, but I would reconsider.’”
Messages to Zacharia seeking comment were not returned on Friday, and the White House did not respond to a request for confirmation. Zacharia plans to have dinner with Vice President JD Vance and his family on Friday evening, according to another person with knowledge of the meal who was granted anonymity to disclose it.
In his own comments, Trump said he told his press secretary, “‘Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this,’” and that he wanted “her to have a good life” and not be subjected to criticism, which he likened to being “brutalised by the media.”
The president said he’d make a final determination later, perhaps after his campaign travel on Friday and this weekend, adding, “When I get back, we’re gonna talk.” He was asked who might replace Zacharia, and said that there were a lot of people who wanted the job.
In Zacharia’s first and only briefing on Tuesday, she took questions from just three reporters, all from conservative-leaning or Trump-friendly outlets, and left after only about 14 minutes.
She later travelled with Trump when he held rallies in Alaska, Arizona and Montana — but did not hold more press briefings.
In an appearance on Fox News Channel earlier Friday (Saturday Australian time), Zacharia was asked if she had the president’s confidence and responded: “I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me.” But she also wouldn’t say when her next press briefing might be.
Before joining the White House, Zacharia had been working in communications for Trump Media, the company that oversees the president’s social media site, Truth Social.
She also briefly worked at the Department of Homeland Security during the second Trump administration.
