WASHINGTON: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out on Friday after less than a week in the
high-profile job, following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss, President Donald Trump.
“Can confirm”, a White House official said, after Fox News reported that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out”. The writing was on the wall earlier when Trump made clear he was ready to see his newly minted spokeswoman go amid criticism that she had pretended to be a lawyer and over her one, much-mocked press briefing.
“I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?’” Trump told reporters. “I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have to do this’... I said to her, ‘Honestly if I were you I’d reconsider.’”
Zacharia only began her job five days ago, taking over from the combative Karoline Leavitt, who helped Trump reshape White House coverage by bringing in more friendly outlets and fiercely attacking critical media.
Zacharia had got off to a rocky start with her debut press room briefing on Tuesday morning.
It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a remarkably slow reading out of what she said were Trump’s many accomplishments, then taking just three questions from journalists.
She then was plunged into controversy when it emerged that her previous claims to be a lawyer were not true.
The kerfuffle is a distraction for 80-year-old Trump as he flies around the country trying to boost Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 congressional midterm elections, with polls predicting a drubbing.
Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.
While she does have a law degree from a California university, she acknowledged Thursday she had failed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practising law in the United States.
She embarked on a series of damage-control interviews on Trump-friendly outlets, but they did no good.
In one of them, Sean Hannity of Fox News appeared dismissive of Zacharia.
He asked the press secretary if she ever retook the bar exam. She replied: “I did not.”
“It was never my intent to go into the practice of law,” she said.
Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2026
