President Donald Trump’s press secretary-for-a-day Katie Zacharia couldn’t even exit the White House without making one last mistake.
Zacharia posted two photographs with Trump in the Oval Office after her unceremonious firing that were digitally altered to conceal an image sitting on the president’s desk, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
The first post, on Friday, contained a photograph with just the two of them, where a document on the president’s desk was blurred but still identifiable to preservation advocates as a renovation plan for the East Potomac Golf Links, the public golf course the president has decided to transform into an exclusive, high-end one without any legal approval.
The second post, on Saturday, contained a photograph that included Zacharia’s family standing behind the desk, and this time the document appeared to have been removed altogether. The Post identified the book sitting beneath it as The White House Historical Association guidebook—noting that the digital alterations had removed an image on the book’s cover of the executive mansion.
The censored image could prove controversial considering that government lawyers have insisted that there is no final design for East Potomac Park, as the plan undergoes a legal challenge from a historic preservation group. Such a slipup is par for the course for Zacharia, who crashed and burned out of the White House after just five days as the president’s spokesperson.
Last week, District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the government from felling hundreds of trees at East Potomac Park. The judge tore into the Trump administration lawyer for claiming that tree removal is not part of the president’s renovation plans. The Department of Justice demanded that she step down, claiming that her outburst proved she was biased against the government. The judge refused, sending Trump spiraling on Monday.
So long, Zacharia, we barely knew ye. I would say don’t let the door hit you on the way out—but it appears you already have.