President Trump’s new press secretary left her post after about a week. Reporters from the Wall Street Journal say a senior aide tapped her on the shoulder while she was speaking to them.
Katie Zacharia has left her role as White House press secretary after only days in the job, with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) describing how her departure unfolded. According to its reporters, she was giving an interview on Friday when a senior White House aide told her “JD wants to chat” and led her out of her office. She did not return. Minutes later, President Donald Trump told reporters he had asked her whether the job was right for her.
How it unfolded
The WSJ journalists said Ms Zacharia left the office mid-interview and never came back. She had told them only minutes earlier that there were “no staffing changes that are happening”. She said she had had just 24 hours to prepare for her first briefing. “The truth is that I have a hard time saying ‘no’ because I want to be a team player,” she told the paper, before adding that she was not accusing the White House of rushing her. She also said she had been running on “no sleep and high adrenaline and probably too much caffeine and no food”.
Mr Trump then spoke to reporters. He recalled telling her: “Is this for you Katie? Because honestly, you don’t need this.” He added: “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to… honestly if I were you I’d reconsider.” Asked whether he had confidence in her, he replied: “I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m gonna let her make that decision.”
Zacharia’s appointment was announced on 9 October, her only briefing took place on 13 October and her departure was confirmed on 16 October. Multiple reports describe her tenure as five days, and it is widely described as the shortest in the post’s history. The tenures are not directly comparable, but Anthony Scaramucci lasted ten days as White House communications director in 2017. He publicly said his record had been surpassed and expressed sympathy for her.
Her only briefing
Ms Zacharia gave a scripted 14-minute debut briefing on 13 October. She was reported to have answered a question on Ukraine unclearly. She also announced that the administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, to resign. The White House issued a statement praising the appearance that day, but Axios later reported that Mr Trump had been dissatisfied with it.
Critics were harsh. One former Trump official described her as an “overwhelmed substitute teacher”, and the conservative commentator Candace Owens criticised her for reading from a script “including her own name”. These are the views of those named.
The day after the briefing, she was interviewed on Fox News and questioned about her professional credentials.
The questions over her legal credentials
Mr Trump had described her when announcing her appointment as “an attorney”. According to Axios, citing a White House official, he was surprised to learn she was not a licensed attorney. She graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2011, failed the California bar examination and did not retake it, and then worked on international legal transactions in China. Her explanations in television interviews reportedly did not satisfy Mr Trump, and the report suggests doubts about her credentials contributed to his loss of confidence in her.
Two watchdog groups, Campaign for Accountability and Democracy Defenders Fund, have filed complaints with the California State Bar over her past use of legal titles. They questioned whether describing herself as a lawyer or attorney could mislead the public. Ms Zacharia has said she holds a law degree and did international legal work. No finding of a regulatory breach has been announced.
Who was involved in the decision
Some accounts say chief of staff Susie Wiles had a role. Insiders reportedly said Ms Zacharia “wasn’t going to hack it”. Axios gives a more complicated account of the original appointment. It reports that Mr Trump told Ms Wiles of his decision, that she did not know Ms Zacharia personally, and that she raised no objection because choosing a press secretary was seen as a presidential decision. The reporting does not establish whether Ms Wiles later recommended dismissal.
Axios also reported that Mr Trump had considered the former Fox News presenter Maria Bartiromo, who was not prepared to accept, and the commentator Scott Jennings, who was not offered the job. He chose Ms Zacharia personally, reportedly with support from his longtime aide Natalie Harp.
What happens next
ABC News reported on Saturday that sources expect Ms Zacharia to move to another position in the administration. No title or appointment has been announced. Axios reported that she and her family had been invited to dinner with Vice President JD Vance and his family on Friday evening at the Naval Observatory. It is not known whether the dinner went ahead.
Mr Trump told Fox News he was in no hurry to name a successor. The vacancy opens less than three weeks before the midterm elections on 3 November. Ms Zacharia replaced Karoline Leavitt, who left in August after the birth of her second child. Names reported as possible replacements include Steven Cheung, the communications director, and Anna Kelly, the principal deputy press secretary. Others mentioned are Katie Miller, Taylor Budowich, Scott Jennings and Alina Habba. There is no confirmation that any has been approached or agreed.
Ms Zacharia, a mother of four, wrote on Instagram after her departure: “President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and the most hardworking man.” She added: “I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him.”
