Trump fires White House press secretary Katie Zacharia after just five days
World
By
AFP
| Oct 17, 2026
President Donald Trump fired the White House press secretary Katie Zacharia after just five days on the job.
Trump said that Zacharia should "reconsider" staying in the job after a shaky start in the high-profile role.
"I said, 'Katie, is this for you?,'" he told reporters as Zacharia fended off criticism that she falsely claimed to be a lawyer and over her widely panned first official press briefing. "I said, 'Katie, you don't have to do this'....I said to her, 'Honestly if I were you I'd reconsider.'"
A White House official on Friday confirmed that Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was leaving her role after just a few days on the job, following a lackluster press briefing performance and scrutiny over her resume.
Asked about reports that Zacharia was "transitioning" out of the role, a White House official confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity.
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Before she left her role, Zacharia had come under scrutiny after admitting that she failed the US bar exam despite past claims that she was an attorney.
She later admitted in a tense interviews on Fox News that she failed the bar exam.