Katie Zacharia exits White House press secretary role after five days
publishers 275articles 471first reported 9 Oct, 18:18 UTCdeveloping since 10 Oct · 18 editionstop 25 #3
Katie Zacharia is leaving her role as White House press secretary after five days on the job, following a brief tenure marked by a difficult debut briefing and questions about her legal credentials.
A senior White House official said Friday that Zacharia was “transitioning out.” President Donald Trump earlier told reporters he had advised her to reconsider the job but denied firing her, saying she had been treated unfairly by the media.
In her first public statement after the announcement, Zacharia praised Trump and said it had been “an honor to work for him.” In a post on X, she called the president “kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking.”
Trump appointed Zacharia on Oct. 9 to succeed Karoline Leavitt. Her first official day was Monday, and she held her only White House briefing Tuesday. The session lasted about 14 minutes and included questions from three conservative-leaning or Trump-friendly outlets.
Zacharia also faced scrutiny after being asked where she had passed the bar exam. She later said she had misheard the question and acknowledged in a television interview that she did not pass the exam. The Wall Street Journal reported that she had failed it, and the Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California over her public claims that she was a lawyer.
Her tenure was the shortest for a White House press secretary.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 192 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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