Katie Zacharia.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia was in the middle of an interview with The Wall Street Journal when President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jason Miller knocked on her office door and told her that Vice President JD Vance wanted to speak with her.“JD wanted to chat with us real quick,” Miller told Zacharia, who was discussing her plans for the role at her West Wing desk shortly before 1 pm on Friday, the Journal reported. The account was also shared on X by WSJ journalist Philip Melanchthon Wegmann.Zacharia left the interview and never returned, with the interruption marking the end of her five-day stint as White House press secretary, the Journal reported. Her departure came just days after she took over the role following Karoline Leavitt’s exit.The development came as Trump was speaking to reporters before departing for Georgia. He said he had advised Zacharia to reconsider taking the job.“I said, ‘Is this for you, Katie? Because honestly, you don’t need this’,” Trump said, adding that he had encouraged her to think again about the role.
A difficult first week
Zacharia’s short tenure followed a difficult first appearance at the White House briefing room podium on Tuesday. She spoke for about 14 minutes, relied heavily on prepared notes and answered only three questions from reporters representing friendly media outlets.
She later told The Wall Street Journal that she had less than 24 hours to prepare for the briefing and received background information only on the morning of the event. She said she had tried to deliver the briefing despite the limited time and information available.“I did everything in my power to effectuate a briefing in the limited time and information I had,” Zacharia told the newspaper hours after her dismissal.
“My goal was to serve President Trump and the American people to the best of my ability.”She also said she had difficulty turning down requests because she wanted to work as part of the team, while maintaining that she did not blame the White House for asking her to face reporters so soon.
Questions over legal credentials
Zacharia’s first week also brought scrutiny over her legal background after Trump described her as an attorney. During her first briefing, she was asked where she had passed the bar exam and said she had done so while living in China.She later acknowledged that she had never passed the bar exam, saying she had practised international transaction law in China with the appropriate credentials.Her explanation drew further questions during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity, where host Sean Hannity challenged her over why she had not simply said she had never practised law.Despite the short tenure, Zacharia had discussed plans for the press office with the Journal shortly before her dismissal.
She said she did not intend to make staffing changes and wanted to keep the team together.“There are no staffing changes that are happening,” she said. “I’m trying to keep everyone cohesive.”Her exit leaves the White House communications role vacant less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.She has become the shortest-serving member of Trump’s White House press team, surpassing communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who left after 10 days during Trump’s first term.