Seven days into her tenure as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia announced her departure from the position. One unnamed source characterised her departure as a resignation, while a White House official described it as a planned transition.
Trump, speaking to reporters on the South Lawn on Friday, noted that he had urged her not to take the position in the first place. Asked whether he had let her go, Trump replied that he had not.
On Friday, October 9, Trump put forward Zacharia as his choice for press secretary, identifying her professional role in the announcement as that of an attorney. Her role at Trump Media & Technology Group — the organisation behind Truth Social — had been in communications, at a senior advisory level. A six-week stretch earlier in the year placed her in the roles of deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and spokesperson within the Department of Homeland Security.
Leavitt, who had held the press secretary post at the White House and built a long-standing working relationship with Trump, was the predecessor in that role.
On Tuesday, October 13, Zacharia delivered her opening press briefing. The session ran for 14 minutes, with questions fielded from three reporters whose outlets have been identified as aligned with conservative viewpoints or supportive of the Trump administration. At her opening briefing, Leavitt held the podium for just under 47 minutes — compared with roughly 79 minutes when Spicer took the same stage for the first time and around 23 minutes for Sanders' debut appearance.
Zacharia later explained that she kept her remarks brief to allow Trump time for his own questions, and that her preparation had been limited — her briefing book having arrived fewer than eight hours before the session took place.
With an Alaska-bound departure imminent, a reporter on the South Lawn directed a question toward her about which state's bar examination she had taken. Trump turned toward her and posed the question of which state the reporter meant, to which Zacharia replied that the licence had been from a state she left behind upon relocating to China. In a subsequent interview with a broadcast outlet, she explained that ambient noise from Marine One had caused her to mishear the question, leading her to respond as though she had been asked about her whereabouts following law school.
According to a newsletter, Zacharia holds no legal authorisation to practise law anywhere in the United States, including Washington, DC. That outlet's coverage noted she had taken the California bar examination following her graduation from Pepperdine University's law programme and had not obtained a passing result. A position as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm drew her to China for the next stage of her career.
A formal complaint targeting her representations of holding a legal licence was lodged with the State Bar of California by Campaign for Accountability. In her own account, Zacharia maintained that the terminology fell within appropriate legal usage, pointed to her professional background practising law in China, and noted that no one had raised the question of bar membership before she was hired. A White House statement drew a distinction between the spokesperson role she had been brought on to fill and the function of legal counsel.
On Thursday evening, Zacharia took part in a televised broadcast. When asked whether she held the title of attorney, she clarified that neither a passing bar exam result nor a US law licence was part of her record. Her explanation was that the exam registration had been completed before any plans to spend that summer in China took shape, and she went through with it to avoid having an official withdrawal on her record. Her account noted that preparation time had been minimal, with the briefing book reaching her hands fewer than eight hours into the new post.
Before heading to a campaign rally in Georgia that afternoon, Trump paused at the South Lawn to address members of the press on Friday, October 16. According to his account, Zacharia was under no obligation to take the position, and he believes she would benefit from giving the matter further thought. When asked whether the position suited her, he indicated it might not, and when pressed on whether a dismissal had taken place, he said it had not, adding that he wishes her well. He also contended that press coverage of her had been unfair.
A broadcaster received word through an anonymous source that she plans to leave the role. No further press briefings came from her after October 13. Appearing on a television programme, Zacharia described her goal as building the confidence of those working alongside her, while leaving open the question of when a future briefing might take place.
When questioned about a potential successor, Trump indicated that numerous individuals had expressed interest in filling the position. No messages left by reporters were answered by Zacharia, and the White House put out no statement addressing her exit. A statement released by White House communications director Steven Cheung described Zacharia as a capable fit for the position who is expected to perform well in it.
