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What does a White House press secretary do?
· Confirmed
In Short: Katie Zacharia, appointed as White House press secretary by President Trump, has stepped down after just five days amid scrutiny over her legal credentials.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is stepping down from her role after just five days, according to multiple sources and a senior White House official reported by ABC News (U.S.) and Fox5Dc (U.S.). ABC News (U.S.) and WBAL-TV (U.S.) quoted President Trump as saying he advised Zacharia to reconsider the position, noting the media had been 'brutal' to her.
CBS News (U.S.) reported that Zacharia was removed from her role after five days, while The New York Times, cited by Mother Jones (U.S.), stated Zacharia had already been fired shortly after President Trump told reporters she should reconsider. Both reports agree that Zacharia's tenure was brief and ended amid intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.
Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported that Zacharia's departure follows a pattern of White House officials being removed after significant political setbacks, citing historical examples such as President George W. Bush firing his press secretary Scott McClellan and rejecting the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers after the 2006 election losses.
Zacharia's legal credentials came under scrutiny after she admitted to not passing the California bar exam, despite previously stating she had practiced international transaction law. The BBC (United Kingdom) reported that Zacharia mistakenly believed a reporter had asked about her activities after law school, not about her bar exam status.
The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, defended Zacharia, stating she is 'uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people,' according to the BBC (United Kingdom). However, the California State Bar is investigating whether Zacharia 'repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practise law without a licence to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime,' as reported by the BBC (United Kingdom).
Zacharia's previous roles included spokesperson and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, as noted by Justthenews (U.S.). She is a graduate of Pepperdine University and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.
Despite the controversy, Zacharia expressed gratitude for her time at the White House, telling WBAL-TV (U.S.), '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 White House press secretary's role involves managing the president's public image and communicating the administration's policies to the media and the public. Zacharia's brief tenure highlights the intense scrutiny and pressure faced by those in this position, especially during politically sensitive times.
The conclusion is that Zacharia's brief tenure as White House press secretary ended amid intense scrutiny over her legal credentials, with multiple sources and officials confirming her departure after just five days.
Background
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she is expecting her second child.
Katie Zacharia, President Donald Trump's newly appointed White House press secretary, announced her departure Friday after just five days on the job, following intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.
What's confirmed
- White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is “transitioning out” of her role, multiple sources and a senior White House official told ABC News on Friday.
- "I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider,'" Trump said.
- "I said, 'Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want,'" the president said.
What's still developing
- It is rumoured that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is now on the chopping block, especially after the president rejected his plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a terrorist who shot 13 people at Fort Hood military base in 2009.
- He waited until after the midterms, in which the Republicans lost control of the United States Congress, to fire Donald Rumsfeld as his secretary of defence, who had led the increasingly unpopular war against Iraq.
- Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that returning a seized explosives shipment to Hezbollah should be ruled out, a State Department official said.
- In response to questions from CBS News, the Pentagon said Wednesday that Operation Epic Fury officially ended May 5, the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared to reporters at the White House: "The operation is over. Epic Fury is — the president notified Congress — we're done with that stage of it. We're now on to this Project Freedom."
- The talks, the first official bilateral discussions devoted exclusively to AI between the U.S. and China since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second time, will be led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the U.S. side, the sources, who were briefed on the planning, said on condition of anonymity.
- Iran's currency has hit a record low — 2.02 million to the US dollar — as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepared to announce new sanctions that Washington said would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade.
- President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are weighing whether to remove U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle following reports of alleged financial impropriety and workplace misconduct.
- The US Government says Nidal Hasan's death by firing squad will be live streamed. ( AFP: Bell Country Sherriff's Department ) US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said the execution of convicted Fort Hood military base shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed.
- The new press secretary also told the paper that when she answered China to a question about her bar exam, it was a misunderstanding.
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