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Katie Zacharia’s career as White House spokeswoman lasted less than a week. Donald Trump himself told journalists that he had asked her to reconsider the position, but according to three sources cited by the New York Times, it would have been much more drastic, with a full-blown dismissal. Neither the White House nor Katie Zacharia responded to the newspaper’s requests for comment, but Trump’s words to journalists – he suggested the newly appointed spokeswoman “think again” – leave little margin.
Zacharia’s experience began in a rather troubled way: on Tuesday she held her first – and last – briefing with the press, followed by a flurry of articles questioning her qualification as a lawyer – the president had defined her as such and she herself had qualified as such on several occasions – despite having failed the bar exam.
Zacharia’s tenure in the White House was even shorter than that of Anthony Scaramucci, who during Trump’s first term served as White House communications director for just 11 days, so much so that his name has become, in common parlance, a term for public officials whose tenure was extremely short.
Earlier this week, the nonpartisan watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the California Bar Association asking them to investigate whether Zacharia broke the law by qualifying as a lawyer while not being licensed to practice.
On Monday, while standing on the South Lawn of the White House with the President, Zacharia was asked by reporters about the bar exam she would be taking. Her response was difficult to understand due to the loud noise of the presidential helicopter’s blades, but it contained, among other things, a reference to the time she moved to China.
Yesterday, a senior administration official confirmed that Zacharia failed the California bar exam – news previously reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to a review conducted by NBC News, there is no evidence that Zacharia is licensed to practice law in any state, and in an interview with right-wing activist Jack Posobiec, she ultimately admitted that she had failed the exam.
Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine University and said he practiced law in China. However, some legal experts explained to NBC News that the Chinese bar exam is exclusively for Chinese citizens. One expert speculated that Zacharia may have consulted on cross-border legal issues.
Trump complained that, during her first week on the job, Zacharia was treated rather harshly by the media. «She was treated, I would say, rather unpleasantly. Just two minutes ago I said to her, ‘Katie, you know, you don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.’
Asked whether he intended to keep her in the position, the president replied: “I will let her decide.”
Zacharia came into the spotlight after being introduced as a lawyer, only to admit later in the week that she had failed the bar exam after studying law. Zacharia’s first briefing at the White House lasted less than 15 minutes and during the meeting, he answered only a few questions from reporters, but failed to clarify whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence information with Ukraine.
During the briefing, Zacharia announced that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece. The information surfaced following a reporter’s question about whether the president planned to fire Guilfoyle due to allegations of misconduct – allegations she denied. Within hours, Guilfoyle announced her resignation.
Zacharia took over from Karoline Leavitt, who left the White House at the end of August, after having held the role since the beginning of Trump’s term in January 2025.
Before her very brief stint in the White House, Zacharia had made a name for herself as a conservative commentator. He also served as a senior communications advisor at Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that operates Truth Social, Trump’s platform.