- President Donald Trump told reporters Friday morning he advised Zacharia to reconsider her role, barely a week after she was hired as press secretary
- Zacharia's shaky debut in the briefing room on Tuesday and questions about her legal background sparked scrutiny from media and White House aides
- A White House official confirmed Zacharia was 'transitioning out' of the role, with a Trump adviser saying she would leave within days
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
Georgia, USA - United States President Donald Trump has fired Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary after just five days in the role, making her tenure among the shortest in the history of the position.
Trump said he had spoken with Zacharia earlier that morning and suggested she reconsider staying in the job. "Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider."
Source: Facebook
As reported by CNN, Trump stated this while speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for a political rally in Georgia on Friday, October 16, 2026.
Trump told reporters, recounting the conversation. He added: "Katie, do you need this? I don't think you need this."
A White House official confirmed to CNN that Zacharia was "transitioning out" of the press secretary role, with a Trump adviser saying she would leave the White House within the next few days.
Zacharia's troubled start
Zacharia took to the White House briefing room lectern for the first time on Tuesday, where she appeared visibly nervous and fielded only three questions.
Later that day, she gave a muddled response when asked about her bar exam results, as Trump had publicly described her as an "attorney" when announcing her appointment.
It emerged that she had never passed the bar exam. She addressed the issue in a series of tense interviews on Fox News, but remained unclear about whether she would return to the briefing room.
Her Thursday night appearance on Fox News with Sean Hanniti proved to be a turning point, with Trump's allies subsequently persuading him that her continued presence in the role was untenable.
Trump had initially not viewed her first briefing as poorly as some of his advisers did, according to two sources familiar with the internal discussions.
However, the conversations that followed changed his assessment. He reportedly remarked to allies this week that perhaps she "wasn't ready for prime time."
Shorter Than Scaramucci
Trump acknowledged that Zacharia had been treated harshly by the press and praised her as a loyal supporter, but conceded: "Maybe it's not for her."
A source close to the president told CNN that Trump continues to respect and like Zacharia personally and that his account of the conversation with her was accurate.
The same source said Zacharia and her family were scheduled to have dinner with Vice President JD Vance and his family on Friday evening at the vice president's residence, a gesture seen as a sign the administration still holds her in good standing.
Zacharia had come to Trump's attention through her work as a conservative television commentator. Her hiring was quick, after several other candidates were ruled out due to past critical remarks they had made about Trump.
Her five-day tenure fell shorter than that of Anthony Scaramucci, whose 11-day stint as White House communications director in 2017 became the informal benchmark for brief and troubled tenures in the administration.
US rejects over 12,000 American citizenship applications
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that USCIS data showed that 12,591 Form N-400 naturalisation applications were denied between April 1 and June 30, 2026.
The citizenship application denials represent nearly 19% of all processed N-400 cases decided within the same three-month period.
A massive backlog of over 727,000 applications remained pending at the close of the quarter, dwarfing approvals.
Source: Legit.ng