Photo via NBC News

Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just 5 days on the job

Read the original at NBC News ↗
Cite

Shabad, R. (2026, October 16). Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just 5 days on the job. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-press-secretary-katie-zacharia-out-after-5-days-rcna603912

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

NBC News · collected 2026-10-16 · by Rebecca Shabad

Quick Summary

Katie Zacharia has been dismissed from her position as White House press secretary just five days after starting the job. Her brief tenure was marked by a poorly received first briefing and controversy over representing herself as a lawyer despite not passing the bar exam. President Trump initially suggested he would let Zacharia decide whether to continue but ultimately removed her from the role following public criticism and legal concerns raised by watchdog groups.
Written by AI on 2026-10-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 18, 2026, Katie Zacharia resigned just five days after being appointed as the White House Press Secretary by President Donald Trump, following a series of controversial appearances and poor performances during interviews on Fox News. Her short tenure raised questions about the role's relevance in an administration where the president often communicates directly with the media and public.

Zacharia had been selected to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the position at the end of August after the birth of her second child. Prior to this role, Zacharia worked as a communications advisor for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which owns Truth Social, and previously served briefly as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.

Text messages obtained by The New York Post revealed that Zacharia herself had pushed for the contentious interviews that led to her departure. These appearances included awkward interactions with Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and "Fox & Friends," where she struggled to answer questions about her qualifications, including not passing the California bar exam.

The incident has sparked debate about the importance of the press secretary role in an administration where direct presidential communication is frequent, highlighting a broader dilemma for how the White House manages media relations.

Written for “Katie Zacharia Hired As Press Secretary” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 120 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Katie Zacharia Hired As Press Secretary
Politics · 121 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
TIME
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 59/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 50 claims Outlet record 66/100
Mother Jones
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 2 of 13 claims Outlet record 95/100
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 5 claims Outlet record 68/100
ABC News (US)
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 70/100
Euronews
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 60/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
60/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
121
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 1949 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rebecca Shabad
11 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Moriarty said they are not in jail and instead, they will be issued a summons to appear in Minnesota for a court appearance.
🔮 Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said he would let Zacharia decide whether to remain as his press secretary after he suggested she was treated harshly by the media during her first week on the job.
🔮 “Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered, however, it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations,” the notice said, according to two people who received it.
🔮 President Donald Trump said Thursday that the government will not livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan — contradicting a recent announcement by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
🔮 Within days, Darline Graham announced she would run for a full six-year Senate term with the backing of President Donald Trump.
🔮 President Trump is expected to name Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as the White House’s artificial intelligence czar, according to a source familiar with the matter.
🔮 “I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval,” Trump said in a meeting, according to the report, which also said that he had told advisers last year that he would host a news conference and announce mass pardons before he leaves office.
🔮 President Donald Trump will announce a plan for a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa on Monday.
🔮 Sherrill said Friday that the state’s acting comptroller, Shirley Emehelu, would become acting secretary of state with just weeks to go until the midterm elections.
🔮 “After a medical appointment at the Mayo Clinic this week, my pathology results came back clear.
Also by Rebecca Shabad
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 11 articles by Rebecca Shabad →

Topics

Trump Media & Technology Group U.S. Ukraine White House the White House

Subjects

Zacharia PERSON · 14× Trump PERSON · 5× White House ORG · 4× NBC News ORG · 3× China GPE · 2× Chinese NORP · 2× Guilfoyle PERSON · 2× Katie PERSON · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× the White House ORG · 2×

Narrative

Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just five days on the job, a senior administration official, an administration official and a source familiar with the decision said, following a widely panned first press briefing and the revelation that she represented herself as a lawyer but did not pass her bar exam.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said he would let Zacharia decide whether to remain as his press secretary after he suggested she was treated harshly by the media during her first week on the job.

Claims (22 extracted, 3 hedged)

Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just five days on the job, a senior administration official, an administration official and a source familiar with the decision said, following a widely panned first press briefing and the revelation that she represented herself as a lawyer but did not pass her bar exam. asserted
she → say → exam
Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said he would let Zacharia decide whether to remain as his press secretary after he suggested she was treated harshly by the media during her first week on the job. uncertain
she → say → job
“She’s been treated, I would say pretty nastily, and I said to Katie just two minutes ago, I said, Katie, you know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want asserted
you → treat → this
,” Trump said. asserted
Trump → say → ?
Asked if he would keep her on the job, the president said, “I’m going to let her make that decision.” asserted
her → ask → decision
Zacharia held a brief press briefing on Tuesday, just one day after she started the job, and came under scrutiny after she had represented herself as a lawyer but acknowledged this week that she did not pass her bar exam following law school. asserted
she → hold → school
Zacharia’s first White House press briefing lasted less than 15 minutes, during which she took only a few questions from reporters and couldn’t answer one about whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. asserted
U.S. → last → Ukraine
During the briefing, Zacharia announced that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece, sharing that information after a journalist asked whether the president was planning to fire Guilfoyle over misconduct allegations, which she has denied. asserted
she → announce → which
Guilfoyle announced she was stepping down within hours. asserted
she → announce → hours
Zacharia had succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who left the White House position at the end of August after serving in the role since the beginning of Trump’s term in January 2025. asserted
who → succeed → January
Zacharia made a name for herself as a conservative commentator before her extraordinarily brief stint at the White House. asserted
Zacharia → make → House
She served as a senior communications adviser for Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Trump’s Truth Social website. asserted
which → serve → website
Scaramucci served in the role for only 11 days, and his name became a descriptor for public officials whose terms were exceedingly brief. asserted
terms → serve → officials
Earlier this week, the nonpartisan watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California requesting an investigation into whether Zacharia broke the law by calling herself a lawyer even though she is unlicensed. asserted
she → file → herself
Zacharia was asked Monday about what bar exam she had taken as she and the president stopped on the South Lawn to speak with reporters before boarding. asserted
she → ask → boarding
Her answer was difficult to hear over the whir of Marine One’s helicopter blades, but part of Zacharia’s response included “when I moved to China.” asserted
I → hear → China
A senior administration official confirmed Thursday that Zacharia didn’t pass the California bar exam, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. asserted
which → confirm → Journal
Zacharia told right-wing activist Jack Posobiec in an interview Thursday that she had not passed the bar exam. asserted
she → tell → exam
There is no evidence that she is licensed to practice law in any state, according to a review by NBC News. uncertain
she → be → News
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine Law and has said she practiced law in China. asserted
she → graduate → China
Legal experts told NBC News that only Chinese citizens can sit for the Chinese bar exam. asserted
citizens → tell → exam
Zacharia could have consulted on cross-border legal issues, one expert told NBC News. uncertain
expert → consult → News
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support