White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was "let go" from the role, a White House official said on Friday, after President Donald Trump said he had told her to reconsider the job following public scrutiny.
Zacharia's departure after just five days makes her the shortest-serving White House press secretary on record, shorter than Anthony Scaramucci's 10-day tenure as communications director in 2017.
Zacharia, 41, a former communications adviser to Trump's Truth Social platform and former Fox News and Newsmax commentator, started on Monday, October 13, succeeding Karoline Leavitt. She held her only White House briefing on Tuesday, a 14-minute appearance where she read from notes and took three questions — from Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail — drawing criticism.
She then faced days of questions about her legal credentials after Trump had described her as an attorney. Zacharia told reporters she had practiced law, but later acknowledged in interviews that she failed the California bar exam and is not licensed to practice.
"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 told reporters Friday as he departed the White House for Georgia.
"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, reported Zacharia is "transitioning out" of the role, while two other officials told Reuters she was fired. NBC reported she may move to another role.
Trump, who announced her appointment on October 9 on Truth Social as a "loyal and brilliant supporter," said she had been treated "very unfairly" and "brutalized by the media."
In a post on X on Friday, Zacharia said: "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."
The departure leaves Trump without a top public messenger just over two weeks before the midterm elections.
