White House press secretary fired after five days
Katie Zacharia arriving in Alaska on Air Force One. Photo: AP
A White House official has confirmed that Katie Zacharia is “transitioning out” from her role as White House press secretary.
Zacharia had served for five days, becoming the shortest-serving press secretary in White House history.
The ouster comes after President Donald Trump told reporters he asked Zacharia to “reconsider” the job, following days of intense media scrutiny.
Rumours had been swirling this week that Zacharia may not last in the role after her rocky start.
After travelling with Trump earlier in the week following her first news briefing, Zacharia had been notably absent.
Zacharia’s first and only press briefing was widely panned. Photo: AP
Speaking before boarding Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, the president relayed a conversation he had with his new press secretary.
“I told her: ‘I think you’re better off being happy, and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.’ There’s nothing easy about this stuff,” Trump said.
“I said to her honestly, ‘If I were you, I’d reconsider… think about it. But I would reconsider.'”
Fox News, citing a White House official, later reported that Zacharia was “transitioning” out of the role of press secretary.
Zacharia held her debut White House briefing on Tuesday.
She said she received a call about the role of press secretary last Wednesday and was offered the job to succeed Karoline Leavitt last Friday. Trump later announced her appointment.
Over the last week, the issue of whether Zacharia, a graduate of California’s Pepperdine University law school, had actually passed the bar – making her an lawyer – came under fire.
The president’s Truth Social post appointing Zacharia called her “an attorney”, but she failed the bar exam, which she acknowledged on Fox News. In the same interview, the host Sean Hannity described her debut press briefing “widely panned”.
Anthony Scaramucci served director of communications for 10 days during Trump’s first administration.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-with AAP
