‘Brutal’, ‘awkward’: How White House officials criticise Katie Zacharia’s 14-minute debut as press secretary

Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, faced reporters briefly for the first time on 13 October (US Time), taking a handful of questions before abruptly wrapping it up, news agency AP said.

Zacharia, a conservative commentator who earlier worked for President Donald Trump’s social media company, was named as Karoline Leavitt's sucessor, who left in August and is joining Fox News.

White House advisers and officials shared negative reviews of her debut appearance with CNN. One characterising it as ‘brutal.’ Others that CNN spoke with described her performance as ‘unusual’, ‘awkward’, ‘stilted’ and, at times, ‘uncomfortable.’

“She should have been doing murder boards for two weeks before going up there,” one Trump adviser told CNN, before critiquing Zacharia’s performance.

Many officials in the White House have questioned how long can she last as Press Secretary after her first briefing was unlikely to satisfy President Donald Trump, according to them.

“Why did they put her out there so quickly?” a White House official was quoted as saying in CNN report.

“Literally zero reason to put her out on her second day, unprepared.”

'14-minute debut appearance'

Zacharia appeared at the podium for only about 14 minutes. The time was mostly dedicated to an opening statement listing President Trump’s accomplishments. She called on only three reporters for questions before ending the briefing.

In her brief briefing Zacharia announced a major news that President Trump had asked for the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens.

“She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well,” Zacharia said.

“The best thing she did was break the news about Guilfoyle — at least that takes the focus off of her performance," the Trump adviser quoted above told CNN.

Zacharia told reporters her goal is to “amplify” what Trump is doing and that the president is “his own best spokesperson.”

She told reporters they could ask the president their questions on the South Lawn when he departs on a campaign trip. “In fact, I am going to end it because President Trump is heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there," she said.

She did very good, says Trump

As Trump left the White House for his trip, more than an hour after the briefing's abrupt end, he praised Zacharia’s performance to reporters. “I thought she did excellent. She did very good," Trump said, as Zacharia stood behind him.

Before taking the questions, Zacharia read slowly from an opening statement that began with a focus on Trump’s recent campaign rallies and his policies on energy, tariffs, immigration and more since he returned to office.

In naming Zacharia, who has a law degree from Pepperdine University, Trump described her as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning.” She briefly worked as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year and has been a commentator for Fox News and Newsmax.

On Tuesday, Zacharia took her first question from Breitbart News, the right-wing outlet that has become more influential in the Trump era, and committed to keeping the “new media” rotation created under her predecessor to bring additional media outlets into news briefings and the White House press pool.

The briefing was shorter than what had become the norm. Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s briefings lasted for about an average of 45 minutes, as per CNN.

Another adviser told CNN that while Zacharia “wasn’t great,” it was just her first press briefing. They expected Trump would give her the benefit of the doubt.

Zacharia’s status as an attorney being questioned

Some people have also rasied questions online about Zacharia’s status as an attorney. CNN said in its report that it found no evidence that she has passed the bar exam in the states where she has lived and worked since graduating Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. When Trump announced her new role, he referred to his new press secretary as “an attorney.”

“The State Bar of California has no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black having been licensed to practice law in California,” a spokesperson for the California State Bar told CNN in a statement, referring to her maiden name.

When a reporter asked Trump at the White House on Tuesday morning about what state Zacharia passed the bar exam in, the president turned to his new press secretary, who was standing behind him.

“Which state?” Trump asked Zacharia. She responded that she had moved to China.

In response to questions on her legal credentials, a White House official told CNN that Zacharia moved to China with her husband after graduating law school, citing his job at an American private equity firm, and that she worked on international transaction law at the time. The official did not respond to a follow-up question about whether she passed the bar exam.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia worked as an associate on the international practice team at Zhong Lun Law in Beijing from August 2011 to June 2013. She was also general counsel to Fix California, an elections-focused nonprofit founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell, from January 2024 to March 2025. Her most recent position was senior communications adviser for the Trump Media and Technology Group.