Trump press secretary Katie Zacharia fired after five days
The gist
Trump press secretary Katie Zacharia was fired Friday after less than a week on the job.
Her brief tenure centered on questions over her legal credentials.
How it unfolded
- Oct 9, 2026Pepperdine alumna Katie Zacharia ('07, JD '11) was announced by President Donald Trump as the next White House press secretary.
- Oct 13, 2026Zacharia made her debut behind the White House lectern in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, spending eight minutes reading from a script, calling on only three reporters (Breitbart, Fox News and The Daily Mail), making a slip mixing up her husband and her president, and leaving after five and a half minutes.
- Oct 14, 2026The New York Times reported it was unable to find a law licence for Zacharia in California or anywhere else she has lived in the United States.