Embattled White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is leaving the job
after less than a week
[October 17, 2026]
By WILL WEISSERT, SEUNG MIN KIM and MICHELLE L. PRICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Katie Zacharia is departing as White House press
secretary, saying it “was an honor to work for” President Donald Trump
after a short and rocky tenure that was defined by questions about her
professional background and lack of polish in fielding questions from
journalists.
A person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to discuss a
personnel decision not yet made public, said earlier Friday that
Zacharia would be transitioning out of the role. Trump had cast
significant doubt on her future, telling reporters that he would have a
discussion with her following his weekend travel — and that if he were
her, he would reconsider the job.
In a post late Friday on social media, Zacharia appeared to refer to her
job in the past tense and called Trump “a kind, wonderful, gracious,
thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man.”
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 practice.
Zacharia was a surprise choice when Trump announced her appointment on
Oct. 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 chaotic nature of Zacharia's appointment and subsequent
downfall evoked some of the personnel messes of the president's first
term, which had largely been absent from his second.
In a lengthy exchange with reporters at the White House on Friday, 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 South 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.’”
Zacharia had dinner with Vice President JD Vance and his family on
Friday evening, according to another person with knowledge of the meal
who was granted anonymity to disclose it.
In his own comments, Trump said he told his press secretary, "'Katie, do
you need this? I don’t think you need this,’” and said he wanted "her to
have a good life” and not be subjected to criticism, which he likened to
being “brutalized by the media.”
The president was asked who might replace Zacharia, and said there were
a lot of people who wanted the job.
Zacharia's first official day on the job was Monday
In Zacharia's first and only 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.
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White House press secretary Katie Zacharia speaks with reporters in
the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday,
Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
She later traveled 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 Friday, 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.
Questions about why Zacharia called herself a lawyer
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.
That was part of the unusual amount of skepticism that Zacharia faced
from those friendly to the administration, including Fox News host Sean
Hannity, who pressed the new White House spokeswoman on why she wasn’t
forthcoming about her professional background.
Hannity, known to be friendly with Trump, asked Zacharia after she
confirmed she did not pass the bar exam in California, “Why not just
say, ‘I went to Pepperdine law school and then took a different career
path and I took the bar once and didn’t pass it?’”
“Why get into this long, drawn-out definition between the difference
between a lawyer and an attorney?" he asked. "Because I don’t think most
people see much of a distinction. Why didn’t you just say, ‘I never
practiced law?’"
Zacharia reiterated to Hannity that she wasn't acting as a lawyer nor
offering legal advice. And she said Friday during that Fox News
interview that she wasn’t asked about passing the bar before becoming
press secretary. Both she and Trump have said she was hired to work in
press and communications, not as an administration lawyer.
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.
___
Price reported from Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia.
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