Just days after she was ousted from her five-day tenure as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia is facing fresh scrutiny for posting pictures of herself with Trump that may have contained sensitive information.
Zacharia stepped into the press secretary role on Monday but was quickly asked to resign on Friday, following a shaky performance during her first press briefing and revelations that she never passed the bar exam despite describing herself as an attorney.
The day she was ousted, Zacharia shared a gushing farewell post about Donald Trump on social media that included a picture of herself standing next to the president behind his desk in the Oval Office.
On the desk was a conspicuously blurred map. Then in a second post on Saturday picturing Zacharia and her family with the president, the map appeared to have been awkwardly edited out of the photo.
The first picture drew questions and speculation, and the second photo only added fuel to the fire as people wondered why the map was edited out if it was insignificant.
Observers pointed out that the shape of the landmass on the map appeared to resemble East Potomac Park in Washington DC, which Trump has been eyeing as part of his goal to overhaul landmarks and federal properties in the nation's capital.
Trump in late June announced his intention to renovate the park's 'dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course' on Truth Social, but the plan has since been challenged by a lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League.
The administration has said that there is no final design for the golf course, but critics have perceived the map on Trump's desk as evidence to the contrary.
Katie Zacharia drew scrutiny for this photo she posted with Trump that shows a blurred map on his desk. Observers said it appeared similar in shape to East Potomac Park in Washington DC
In this second photo Zacharia posted, the map appears to have been completely edited out. People questioned why it was removed if it was insignificant
Zacharia served as White House press secretary for just five days after a shaky performance during her first press briefing. She is pictured during the briefing
The advocacy group Save East Po, which is opposed to the renovation plan, retweeted Zacharia's post on Friday and wrote: 'FYI to anyone paying attention - that blurred out map on the PRESIDENT’S DESK is East Potomac Park.'
A followup tweet that included Zacharia's second photo with the map edited out said: 'Nothing says “we have no plan” like a photo of plan-shaped map on the President’s desk, followed by a second photo where that map has been digitally removed.'
Alex Rosen, the founder of Save East Po, told The Washington Post that details on the blurred map resemble previously circulated renderings of renovation plans for the park.
Earlier this week, US District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the National Park Service from cutting down more trees in East Potomac Park after the department felled hundreds of trees there.
Trump administration lawyers have contended that the tree removals were not part of the president's golf course renovation plan but instead part of a 2019 plan to restore the course to its original design.
Reyes, who is presiding over the lawsuit challenging the renovation, appeared skeptical of the government's argument in a court memorandum issued on Tuesday.
'It is a coincidence, the Government seems to suggest, that DOI cut down hundreds of trees at the Course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the Course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years,' the judge wrote.
Those opposed to East Potomac Park's renovation perceive the blurred map on the president's desk as an indication that he intends to move forward with renovation plans despite the court challenge.
An advocacy group against renovating East Potomac Park said the map looked like a rendering of previously circulated renovation plans. The map and park are pictured side by side
The National Park Service felled hundreds of trees at the park's golf course, claiming the work was part of a 2019 plan. A federal judge said she was suspicious of the timing
An advocacy group against the park's renovation highlighted the map on Trump's desk and said it indicated he has full plans for the renovation despite claiming the contrary
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung scoffed at those concerns in a statement to the Washington Post that said the outlet was 'breathlessly obsessing over an innocuous photo' and suffering from 'Trump Derangement Syndrome.'
Zacharia similarly told the Daily Mail: 'It is only fitting that the Daily Mail would turn a very sweet picture into something controversial.'
But critics have pointed to Trump's history of pushing through major changes to Washington DC without oversight and have said they are concerned that the park is just the latest example.
The president demolished the White House East Wing to build a ballroom without Congressional approval, advanced plans for a 250-foot arch on Columbia Island without final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission and added his name to the Kennedy Center.
All of those initiatives faced legal challenges. The Supreme Court ruled that construction of the White House ballroom can temporarily move forward, but the other two plans are currently in limbo.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.