Katie Zacharia responded after criticism of her first White House press briefing on Tuesday, telling Newsweek via email that “I am grateful to serve President Trump as Press Secretary, and I will diligently and effectively amplify his successful agenda.”
During her debut at the podium, Zacharia announced that the White House had asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign.
Yet much of the reaction to Zacharia’s debut centered on its brevity. She spent just 14 minutes at the podium and took questions from only three outlets before ending the briefing as President Donald Trump prepared to depart the White House for a campaign trip to Alaska.
Zacharia, a conservative commentator who most recently worked for Trump’s social media company, was named press secretary on Friday, succeeding Karoline Leavitt, who left the administration in August to spend more time with her family.
Her first appearance offered an early glimpse of how Zacharia intends to approach the job. She told reporters that her goal was to “amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people” while describing Trump as “his own best spokesperson.”
Speaking to reporters before his trip to Alaska, Trump responded to a question about Zacharia’s briefing, saying only, “I thought she was very good.”
But the brevity of the appearance, along with Zacharia’s delivery and handling of questions, quickly generated criticism from former White House communications officials, journalists and commentators.
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Katie Zacharia’s 14-Minute White House Briefing
Zacharia began the briefing with prepared remarks highlighting Trump’s campaign rallies ahead of the November 3 midterm elections and touting the administration’s record on issues including energy, tariffs and immigration.
She took her first question from Breitbart News and said she would continue the “new media” rotation introduced under Leavitt that opened briefing-room access to additional media organizations.
Zacharia also made the biggest news of the briefing when she confirmed that Trump had asked Guilfoyle to resign following allegations of improper conduct.
“She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well,” Zacharia said.
But after taking questions from only three outlets, including one question about how she plans to balance her family life with the new job, Zacharia brought the briefing to a close as Trump prepared to leave the White House.
“In fact, I am going to end it because President Trump is heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there,” she said.
White House Officials, Reporters React to Zacharia’s Debut
Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, gave Zacharia high praise after her first appearance in front of the press.
He told Newsweek via email: “Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team. She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his Administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as Press Secretary."
However, some criticism also came from within Trump’s orbit, according to CNN.
CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene reported that several White House officials and presidential advisers described Zacharia’s appearance as “awkward” or “stilted,” particularly as she read her opening statement.
Trump has shown a willingness to make quick changes to his White House communications operation. The most notable example came in 2017, when Anthony Scaramucci lasted just 10 days as White House communications director. The White House said at the time that Trump believed comments Scaramucci had made about colleagues were inappropriate for someone in his position.
Treene noted that Trump publicly praised Zacharia after the briefing and that some people she spoke with believed the president would give his new press secretary the benefit of the doubt.
Former Biden White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield described Zacharia’s performance as a “rocky start” during a CNN appearance on Tuesday.
Bedingfield said a press secretary needs to project confidence and demonstrate enough command of administration policy to field questions across a wide range of subjects.
“She wasn’t able to do that,” Bedingfield said, while acknowledging that it was Zacharia’s first day. “To send somebody out to the podium who seems incredibly unprepared, unable to answer five, six, seven, eight questions. I mean, typically these briefings can last as long as 45 minutes, an hour.”
Bedingfield called the performance “very unimpressive right out of the gate” but also questioned whether Zacharia had been given sufficient time to prepare after being named to the position only four days earlier.
“It is unusual for a press secretary to come into the job and go straight out to the podium like that,” Bedingfield said, calling the position “one of the hardest in the entire administration.”
Former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki offered a more blunt assessment.
“Well that briefing was basically an SNL skit…except it wasnt…will have a lot more to say at 9pm,” Psaki, now an MS NOW host, wrote on X.
The reactions placed immediate scrutiny on Zacharia as she began a job that requires serving as a public face for the administration and managing the White House operation responsible for responding to reporters.
Bedingfield argued that the latter responsibility could prove just as consequential as Zacharia’s televised appearances.
“The press secretary’s job is only in part what you see on camera,” she said, pointing to running the press shop and overseeing responses to journalists as other major elements of the position.
Former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, who resigned after the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, also contrasted Zacharia’s debut with predecessors Leavitt and Kayleigh McEnany.
“Love them or hate them: Kayleigh McEnany and Karoline Leavitt came out swinging in their first press briefings,” Matthews wrote on X. “They were sharp, confident, prepared, and proved they had the chops for the job right out of the gate.”
She described Zacharia’s performance, by comparison, as “a rather underwhelming debut,” pointing to the three questions she took and her “heavy reliance on her notes.”
“Not exactly in command of the briefing room,” Matthews added.
Experts Critique Katie Zacharia’s Performance
Democratic strategist Melissa DeRosa offered a more positive assessment of Zacharia’s debut during an appearance on Fox News, arguing that the new press secretary avoided becoming the story.
“I thought that she presented well,” DeRosa said, adding that Zacharia did not come across as combative as some previous Trump press secretaries.
DeRosa said she initially worried that Zacharia’s first appearance could become a “process story,” with observers dissecting her delivery rather than focusing on the administration’s message. Instead, she argued, Zacharia delivered significant news and quickly left the podium.
“She came out loaded with news and then she dropped the mic and walked away,” DeRosa said. “I think from a strategic perspective, that was a really smart move.”
Beverly Hallberg, president of District Media Group and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, also criticized Zacharia’s first appearance while acknowledging the difficulty of making a debut at the White House podium.
“There’s grace” for it being Zacharia’s first day, Hallberg wrote on X, but she argued that White House press secretary “isn’t the kind of position where you should be learning on the job.”
“You should already be prepared to step into the role, with understandable room to work through the kinks,” Hallberg said. “It’s completely normal for a press secretary to be nervous during her first appearance, but I’m hoping she’ll find her groove because that wasn’t a strong start.”
Hallberg, who works as a media coach, focused much of her criticism on Zacharia’s presentation. She said the new press secretary relied too heavily on her notes, spoke too slowly and appeared visibly nervous. She also criticizing Zacharia's eye contact and tendency to stumble over words.
The debut nevertheless underscored one aspect of Zacharia’s philosophy toward the position: She does not intend to compete with Trump for the role of chief messenger.
Zacharia explicitly described the president as “his own best spokesperson,” and her decision to end the briefing so reporters could question Trump directly reinforced that approach on her first day behind the lectern.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Dave Siminoff.