‘Brutal’, ‘inappropriate’: How White House officials criticize Katie Zacharia’s 14-minute debut as press secretary | Today’s news
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, met briefly with reporters for the first time on Oct. 13 (US time) and asked a few questions before abruptly wrapping it up, the AP news agency reported.
Zacharia, a conservative commentator who previously worked for President Donald Trump’s social media company, was named to succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left in August to join Fox News.
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White House advisers and officials shared negative reviews of her debut appearance with CNN. One characterizes it as ‘brutal’. Others CNN spoke to described her performance as “unusual,” “awkward,” “kicked” and at times “uncomfortable.”
“She should have been making killer records for two weeks before she went there,” one Trump aide told CNN before criticizing Zacharias’ performance.
Many officials in The White House have questioned how long she can last as press secretary after her first briefing, they said, was unlikely to satisfy President Donald Trump.
“Why did they put her there so quickly?” A White House official said in a CNN report.
“Literally zero reason to put her out the next day, unprepared.”
’14 Minute Debut Performance’
Zacharia only appeared on stage for about 14 minutes. Most of the time was devoted to an opening statement listing President Trump’s accomplishments. Before ending the briefing, she invited questions from only three reporters.
In her brief briefing, Zacharia broke the important news that President Trump has asked for the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, following a series of reports that she engaged in inappropriate and possibly illegal conduct before and during her time in Athens.
“She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her the best of luck,” said Zacharia.
“The best thing she did was break the news about Guilfoyle — at least it distracts from her performance,” the Trump aide quoted above told CNN.
Zacharia told reporters that her goal is to “amplify” what Trump is doing and that the president is “his own best spokesman.”
She told reporters they could ask the president questions on the South Lawn as he left on the campaign trail. “I’m actually going to end it because President Trump is heading to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska and we can ask him all the questions there,” she said.
She did very well, says Trump
As Trump left the White House on his way, more than an hour after the briefing ended abruptly, he praised Zacharias’ performance to reporters. “I thought she did great. She did very well,” Trump said as Zacharia stood behind him.
Before taking questions, Zacharia slowly read an opening statement that began by focusing on Trump’s recent campaign rallies and his policies on energy, tariffs, immigration and more since returning to office.
When Trump nominated Zacharias, who has a law degree from Pepperdine University, he described her as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the start.” Earlier this year, she briefly worked as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and was a commentator for Fox News and Newsmax.
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On Tuesday, Zacharia took her first question from Breitbart News, a right-wing outlet that has become more influential in the Trump era, and pledged to maintain the “new media” spin created under her predecessor to bring other media outlets to news briefings and the White House press pool.
The briefing was shorter than usual. Former White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt’s briefings lasted about 45 minutes on average, according to CNN.
Another CNN insider told CNN that while Zacharia “wasn’t great,” it was just her first press conference. They expected Trump to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Zachariah’s status as a lawyer is questioned
Some people have also raised questions online about Zachariah’s status as a lawyer. CNN said in its report that it found no evidence that she had passed the bar exam in the states where she had lived and worked since graduating from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. When Trump announced her new role, he referred to his new press secretary as a “lawyer.”
“The State Bar of California has no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black being licensed to practice law in California,” a California State Bar spokeswoman told CNN in a statement, referring to her maiden name.
When a reporter asked Trump in the White House on Tuesday morning what state Zacharia took the bar exam in, the president turned to his new press secretary, who was standing behind him.
“Which state?” Trump asked Zacharias. She replied that she had moved to China.
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In response to questions about her legal credentials, a White House official told CNN that Zacharia moved to China with her husband after graduating from law school, citing his work at a US private equity firm and that she was working in international transaction law at the time. The clerk did not respond to an additional question about whether she had passed the bar exam.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia worked as an associate in the international practice team at Zhong Lun Law in Beijing from August 2011 to June 2013. From January 2024 to March 2025, she was also general counsel of the nonprofit Fix California, which was founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell. Her most recent position was media group and media group advisor.
(With input from AP and CNN)
