Donald Trump Fires White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia After Five Days

Zacharia exits after five days

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia stepped down on October 16, just five days after her inauguration, after U.S. President Donald Trump met with reporters at the White House and told her, “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do this job.”

Dismissed after five days5 of 5 outlets reported it▾

The White House announced Zacharia would leave her post only days after assuming it, and Trump said he had asked her to “reconsider” whether she wanted to continue in the position.

Trump advises reconsider6 of 6 outlets reported it▾

Zacharia is “transitioning out” of her role, with multiple sources and a senior White House official describing her departure as happening after she started on Monday.

The BBC reported that Zacharia offered just one press conference as Trump’s government spokesperson, which ended abruptly after 14 minutes, and the BBC noted that she replaced Karoline Leavitt, who announced her departure from the administration last August.

The Advocate reported that Trump fired Zacharia on Friday after five days on the job, citing The New York Times and three people familiar with the matter, while neither Zacharia nor the White House responded to the newspaper’s requests for comment.

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Bar exam controversy and briefing

Trump’s comments framed the departure as a response to media treatment, and Trump told reporters, “I don’t think Katie should be made to suffer like she’s suffering at the hands of the press.” Zacharia answered beside the president, “When I moved to China.” Zacharia’s performance in the White House briefing room was heavily criticized and questions grew over whether she had misrepresented herself as a lawyer, despite never having passed the bar.

Zacharia lasted five days on the job, half the length of Anthony Scaramucci’s tenure as director of communications, who served for 10 days during Trump’s first administration. Zacharia acknowledged this week that she did not pass the California Bar exam, which she took in 2011 after earning a law degree from Pepperdine University.

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What happens next for the White House

Zacharia was expected to start a new role in the administration soon, while the White House had not yet indicated who may replace her as press secretary. It is not clear whether she will take another position in the White House or within Trump’s circle, and Zacharia no longer held the position as of Friday according to people familiar with the matter. Trump told reporters, “When I get back, we're going to talk,” while he signaled he had spoken to Zacharia and felt she didn’t deserve what he called negative media coverage.

Zacharia’s first briefing on October 13 ended after about 14 minutes, and the BBC described the episode as a brief appearance marked by questions that ended abruptly. Channel 4 News said U.S. media reports described Zacharia as “let go” from the role, citing a White House official, and Channel 4 News contrasted her five-day tenure with Anthony Scaramucci’s 11 days as White House communications director.

+2First briefing8 of 9 outlets reported it · not in Al-Jazira Net▾

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