WASHINGTON — Katie Zachariah, the new White House press secretary appointed by President Donald Trump, failed to answer questions on key foreign policy issues and left the podium after about 14 minutes in her first official briefing, The New York Times reported on the 13th.
Zachariah, 41, opened her first briefing in the White House briefing room that morning, saying she had long wanted to work for Trump and thanking the president for his confidence in her.
She spent about eight minutes reading prepared remarks highlighting the administration's achievements before taking questions. She called on only three of the many reporters present and wrapped up the question-and-answer session in about five and a half minutes.
The outlets she called on were limited to three conservative-leaning organizations: Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. Asked whether the United States had suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine as negotiations between the two countries remain deadlocked, Zachariah said she would check and respond later, exposing her lack of preparation. The breakdown in talks with Ukraine has emerged as a major foreign policy issue in Washington in recent weeks.
Korea also came up during the briefing. Zachariah said Korea would invest $54 billion (about 72.5 trillion won) in an Alaska liquefied natural gas development project, and described as a remarkable agreement the Korean energy investment package of up to $200 billion (about 267 trillion won) in the United States that Trump had unveiled.
She also made a verbal slip. Asked how she would balance the job with family life, given that she has four children and a husband, she began to refer to her husband but said "my president" before immediately correcting herself to "my husband." Zachariah laughed at her own mistake.
She drew reporters' attention by disclosing for the first time that Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, had been asked to resign. But as questions poured in, she ended the briefing, saying Trump's departure time was approaching. Reporters pressed for more on the circumstances of Guilfoyle's resignation and on imports of Russian diesel, but Zachariah said the president would answer directly before boarding Marine One, the presidential helicopter, and then left.
Zachariah previously worked as a political commentator for Fox News, among other roles, and was appointed to succeed Karoline Leavitt, a close Trump aide who had served as White House press secretary.
The Times said Leavitt had built a close relationship with Trump dating back to his campaign and conveyed his positions with relative confidence, while Zachariah is still in the process of building relationships with the president and with senior White House staff.
Questions also arose after the briefing about Zachariah's legal credentials. Trump had introduced her as a lawyer when he announced her appointment last week. But when a reporter asked in which state she had passed the bar exam, Zachariah said it was when she moved to China. The White House subsequently declined to give specific answers on whether she had in fact passed a bar exam and where she had been admitted.
Trump, asked by reporters how he assessed Zachariah's first briefing, said he thought she had done very well. Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said Zachariah has outstanding ability and expressed confidence that she would succeed in the role.
The Times noted that a White House press secretary needs direct communication with the president and a relationship of trust in order to convey his positions accurately, and said the key question is whether Zachariah will be able to play that role.