After five days, Katie Zacharia is out as the White House press secretary, and President Donald Trump has revealed the conversation the two had, hours before Katie was "fired."
"I said, 'Katie, is this for you?' She's been treated very rough. She's a nice person. I watched her for years," Donald told the press outside the White House before he took a flight to Georgia for a political rally.
The President revealed he told her to "reconsider" the opportunity, and that she "didn't need this," and accused the media of giving her a "tough" time.
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"She was on Hannity last night. Sean was a little tough, I saw Fox and Friends. She's been treated, I'd say, pretty nastily. I said to Katie two minutes ago — you don't have to do this if you don't want it. I just want her to be happy."
The New York Times later reported that she had been let go from the position after five days, citing three different sources. A White House official told HELLO! that Katie is "transitioning out" of her role as press secretary.
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It makes her tenure the shortest of any press secretary since Anthony Scaramucci who was fired after 11 days in 2017 during Trump's first term.
Five days of scrutiny for Katie
Katie has been under intense scrutiny after her appointment was made public by Trump and he claimed she was an attorney. It later emerged that she failed the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University Law School in 2011.
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Describing that period in an interview, Katie said she was "incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited" as she was planning to move to China to be with her husband. In China she worked for the international practice division of Zhong Lun Law Firm.
Her law degree provided the credentials required for that work and that she did not need the California bar qualification for the role.
Katie's first press conference went viral
Her first press conference quickly went viral as she was clearly nervous and struggled with the speech, at one point calling Trump her "husband". She has also been criticized for spreading vaccine conspiracy theories and Russian propaganda on social media.
Before joining the White House, she worked in communications for Trump Media & Technology Group and previously served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
She also appeared as a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax, making television a familiar setting before her move to the White House podium.
Trump has had seven press secretaries in six years
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Sean Spicer was the first in Trump's first term, lasting for six months between January 2017 and July 2017 before Scaramucci briefly served as the White House Communications Director for 11 days.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders then took over the role for two years. Stephanie Grisham became the new spokesperson in July 2019 for 10 months before Kayleigh McEnany held the position until the end of the term.
When Trump was re-elected in 2024, he hired Karoline Leavitt who held the position until August 2026. Trump did not have a press secretary for two months before Katie was hired.