President Donald Trump has fired his newly appointed press secretary Katie Zacharia after just five days in the role and a single press briefing that drew widespread criticism.
The New York Times reported the decision came after a week of mounting scrutiny, during which Zacharia struggled to handle questions from reporters and in media interviews. Three sources familiar with internal discussions confirmed to the paper that she had been removed from the position.
Trump addressed the matter Friday as he departed the White House for a campaign rally in Georgia. He said he had spoken with Zacharia and suggested she reconsider continuing in the role.
"If I were you, I'd think about it again," Trump recounted telling her. "Katie, do you need this? I don't think you need this."
Trump added that Zacharia may continue working for him in a different capacity, one he described as potentially more comfortable for her. White House communications director Steven Cheung later announced she would move to a new position, with details to be provided at a later date.
Zacharia posted a statement on social media thanking Trump for the opportunity. She described him as "a kind, wonderful, generous, considerate, passionate and hardworking person," adding that she wished more Americans appreciated him. According to her, no one will succeed in making America great the way he has and continues to do.
One briefing that became a crisis
The trouble began Tuesday, when Zacharia held her first briefing with White House reporters — which also turned out to be her last in the role. During the event, she relied heavily on prepared text and ended the question session after just five and a half minutes.
But criticism was not limited to how she conducted the briefing. Questions quickly arose about her presentation as an attorney, after it emerged she had not passed the bar exam. Trump himself had introduced her as a lawyer, and the matter raised concerns about how she had described her professional qualifications.
When a New York Times reporter repeatedly asked in which state she had passed the bar, she answered twice: "When I moved to China." She later claimed to the paper that she had not heard the question properly. According to the report, Trump himself repeated the reporter's question to her while the two stood next to each other.
Her attempts to explain herself in media appearances did not help. In an interview that aired Thursday evening on Fox News with Sean Hannity, a friend of Trump's, she faced more critical questions than usual from the host.
The next day, on "Fox and Friends," she was asked whether she regretted not clarifying to the president beforehand that she had not passed the bar. "Well, Lawrence, those questions weren't asked," she replied to host Lawrence Jones.
Surprise appointment and exceptionally quick end
Zacharia received the job offer from Trump on the Friday before her appointment and began work on Monday. She was a relatively unknown conservative commentator who appeared on Fox News without pay, and according to the report, many in the White House did not know her at all before her selection. She had not yet moved to Washington.
One of her prominent supporters in the administration was Natalie Harp, a senior Trump aide who is often at his side. However, alongside that support, other White House sources believed her debut performance was a failure.
Communications director Cheung actually praised her early in the week. On Wednesday, he wrote that White House staff had been very impressed with her in just a few days, and even predicted that by the end of Trump's second term, she would be remembered as one of the greatest White House press secretaries of all time.
Reality developed in a different direction: Zacharia may be remembered precisely for her exceptionally short tenure, five days and a single briefing.
For comparison, Anthony Scaramucci, who served as White House communications director and not as press secretary, was fired after just ten days in the role during Trump's first term. After news of Zacharia's departure was published, Scaramucci wrote on X: "Records are meant to be broken, but I take no pleasure in the pain of others."
Her departure adds to another turbulent week in the president's orbit. On Tuesday, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, was fired during a television broadcast, the same day Zacharia held her only briefing.
Paulo Zampoli, a longtime Trump associate who claimed he introduced the president to his wife, was also pushed out of his State Department role after one of the internal conflicts in which he was involved reached the media. Additionally, the daughter of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and others in her circle faced public scrutiny over their business activities abroad.
