Roughly a fortnight before voters head to the polls for the midterm elections, a series of events unfolding inside the White House has drawn public attention. Though Trump's name will not appear on any ballot, his presence continues to shape how a notable share of the electorate approaches the vote. Republican lawmakers nationwide are seeking to address constituent concerns over rising prices, the economic effects of tariff policy, and a military conflict with Iran that has drawn widespread opposition.
On Friday, reports circulated that Katie Zacharia, who had only recently taken on the role of press secretary, had been dismissed by President Donald Trump. No confirmation of the dismissal came from the president, who had earlier told Zacharia to consider whether the position still suited her. The day before those reports emerged, Zacharia told an interviewer that she had not passed the bar exam — a detail that stood in contrast to a social media post in which Trump had described her as "an attorney."
Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law conferred a law degree upon Zacharia at the close of the 2011 academic year. During a conversation with a right-leaning media personality, she indicated that she had sat the bar exam only once. Zacharia stated that she had never referred to herself as an attorney, pointing to a spread of misinformation as the source of the confusion.
In multiple interviews, the press secretary described receiving guidance to use the word "lawyer" rather than "attorney" or "esquire." A number of legal professionals have questioned whether Zacharia holds the qualifications associated with any of those designations. A separate news outlet's review of records found that Zacharia had posted no fewer than 15 times on social media describing herself as an attorney over a span of roughly two years.
Reports have also emerged that Trump is considering a post-midterm change to the chief of staff position, placing Susie Wiles under a degree of scrutiny tied to those discussions. Accounts drawn from unnamed sources indicated that Trump had been in conversation with close advisers about who might succeed Wiles. In a written statement, Trump contested those allegations, describing Politico's coverage as wholly invented and asserting that the outlet lacked dedication to accuracy or professional standards — a position he said had already informed his decision to revoke the publication's White House access.
Wiles has held the chief of staff position longer than anyone else in that role during Trump's tenure, which the president has attributed to her dependability. Trump's statement included a direct expression of confidence in her, describing her as a trusted adviser present from the outset. Records show that chief of staff turnover has been a consistent feature of the modern presidency, with most presidents replacing that position at least once during a single term and the typical tenure in the role lasting just over two years. During Trump's first White House term, four attorneys general served under him.
Among those whose names have circulated as possible contenders for the chief of staff role are Stephen Miller, who serves as White House deputy chief of staff; Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees; Steve Witkoff, currently serving as special envoy to the Middle East; Bill Pulte, a housing official who previously held the acting director role at the national intelligence agency; and Kevin McCarthy, who formerly held the speakership of the Republican-led House.
Questions of oversight attached themselves to Wiles after her advisers James Blair and Chris LaCivita made an unannounced trip to Republika Srpska in Bosnia, where they held consultations with the regional government — a visit that took place without prior notification to the White House. In a social media post, Trump described Chris LaCivita and James Blair as outside consultants rather than direct employees. The quoted speaker indicated an intention to ask the individuals involved about any other clients and to end the arrangement without delay if a conflict of interest came to light. Separately, Katie Wiles, daughter of Susie Wiles, had made a prior trip to the region to explore a possible gas pipeline partnership with Republika Srpska.
Internal tensions at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts also surfaced publicly. Habba, who previously represented Trump as his attorney, brought to the president's attention that Ric Grenell — appointed on a temporary basis to oversee the performing arts center at the outset of the current term — had not processed a contribution of nearly $6 million made by her husband to the center approximately one year prior. An instruction was put in place directing the White House counsel's office to carry out an inquiry, and a review of the allegations is ongoing.
Records indicate that Turhan Mildon, Habba's husband, had at one point maintained a close relationship with Grenell, with the two also holding overlapping business dealings in Venezuela, according to a news outlet. According to one account, the two had developed what was described as a deeply adversarial personal dynamic. Grenell is separately alleged to have directed Mildon toward a $5.6 million contribution to the Kennedy Center, with that sum forming part of a broader $17 million transfer directed to defense firm TXAT, an organisation where Grenell held a consulting role during 2024. How that exchange was structured and finalised has not been fully established.
Grenell took to social media to push back against the allegations, describing them as without foundation, and stated that he had neither directed any funds toward the Kennedy Center under a different stated purpose nor received any form of payment from the individual in question. A search of Kennedy Center records turned up no trace of the $6 million contribution attributed to Mildon, according to officials there. A review of the records instead identified an outstanding pledge of $270,000 that Mildon owed, a sum he settled on Tuesday.
