"Was An Honour": Katie Zacharia On 5-Day Stint As Trump's Press Secretary

Katie Zacharia has confirmed her exit as the White House Press Secretary, hours after US President Donald Trump told reporters that she should "reconsider" the job. Zacharia was only days in the office, a stint filled with multiple scrutiny including her law degree, and a messed-up first press briefing. 

Zacharia praised Trump in a social media post while confirming the development, and said it "was an honour" for her to work for President Trump. She added that Trump was kind, wonderful and wished more Americans appreciated him. 

"President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him," her post on X read. 

President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him. https://t.co/Tp4NizrhE2

— Katie Zacharia (@KatieZacharia) October 17, 2026

On Friday, Trump had a lengthy exchange with reporters at the White House where he said that he told Katie Zacharia that she might want to change her mind about the job. The President added he thought she had been treated unfairly by the press.

"I told her, 'I think you're better off being happy.' I said, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider.' I said, 'You think about it, but I would reconsider,'" he said. 

Katie Zacharia's 5 Days As White House Press Secretary

The Donald Trump administration has been looking for a press secretary since Karoline Leavitt left the position in August this year. The 41-year-old former senior communications adviser to Trump Media and Technology Group had shared a post on October 10 thanking Trump for appointing her the new White House Press Secretary. 

She shared a screenshot of Trump's post on TruthSocial that confirmed her appointment. President Trump had mentioned how she was part of his campaigns in crucial swing seats, which he ultimately won. 

However, the maiden and only press briefing of Zacharia as press secretary was put in question after she took only three questions from all Trump-leaning media outlets and left in 14 minutes. 

Later, her legal credentials were subjected to scrutiny with many questioning on social media her degree. Zacharia, a Pepperdine University law graduate, had mentioned herself as a lawyer when appearing as a commentator on conservative television channels. She said she had given legal analysis and worked as a lawyer in China. 

On Thursday, she confirmed that she had failed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practicing law in the United States. In a Fox News interview, the host asked Zacharia: "You took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the bar exam, correct?"

"Yes," she responded, reported AFP.

When asked if she had ever taken the bar exam a second time, she replied: "I did not."

"I had four kids in six years," she said. "It was never my intent to go into the practice of law," Zacharia added. 

Before joining  Trump Media & Technology Group in June, Zacharia served as a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under then-secretary Kristi Noem, according to her LinkedIn profile.  She left the department after around two months.