Trump’s new press secretary is leaving the post

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is transitioning out of the role after a brief and rough tenure as US President Donald Trump’s chief spokesperson, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was granted anonymity to discuss a personnel decision not yet made public. Zacharia faced mounting questions about her background and résumé during her sole week on the job.

Zacharia had come under immediate scrutiny when she appeared uncomfortable during her inaugural briefing on Tuesday, 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 practise.

Zacharia was a surprise choice when Trump announced her appointment on October 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 chaos surrounding her appointment was reminiscent of some of Trump’s short-lived staff picks from his first term.

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 White House 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 yesterday, and the White House offered no immediate comment.

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 yesterday 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.

Zacharia’s short tenure has been defined by questions about her professional background and lack of polish in fielding questions from journalists. In her 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.

Zacharia has said she wanted to keep her briefing short to ensure Trump had enough time later that morning for his own question-and-answer session with reporters, and that she had not been fully briefed by White House staff beforehand.

She later travelled with Trump when he held rallies on Wednesday and Thursday in Alaska, Arizona and Montana, but did not hold more press briefings.

In an appearance on Fox News Channel earlier yesterday, 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.

Zacharia, a Pepperdine University law graduate, also faced criticism for describing herself as a lawyer when appearing as a commentator on conservative television outlets. Zacharia said the term was a proper one to use when she was offering legal analysis, and said she had worked as a lawyer in China.

Zacharia yesterday said on Fox News that she wasn’t asked about passing the bar before becoming press secretary, and Trump noted in his subsequent comments that she was hired as a spokesperson for the White House, not as an attorney.

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.