New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds her first press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 13, 2026.
Katie Zacharia refuses to become a laughingstock after her brief, disastrous tenure as White House press secretary. Her latest social media update suggests she isn’t embarrassed by setting a new record for the shortest-serving White House communications official, surpassing Anthony Scaramucci, who held the role for just 11 days.
Zacharia has a resume update, and it’s not to announce a new job. Instead, is proudly boasting about her former job on her social media. “Former White House Press Secretary for President Donald J. Trump | Wife & Mom of Four,” her bio reads on her X account.
Zacharia, 41, resigned after being asked to step down following her infamous 14-minute inaugural press conference. The fallout centered on questions about her legal credentials and claims that she was a lawyer. It was later revealed that she had never passed a U.S. bar exam, while she had allegedly claimed to have passed the bar in China.
Trump reportedly hired Zacharia on the spot during her interview for the role, without conferring with his chief of staff. But following Zacahria’s tumultuous first press conference, he reportedly felt embarrassed by her performance and told trusted aides that she lacked talent.
Zacharia has since gone on her own media tour. But Zacharia says her firing is not as simple as it seems. She recently opened up about her exit from her role in an interview on Newsmax, telling host Rob Finnerty that the "media and all of Washington" contributed to her downfall.
"Listen, the media does not like outsiders, and Washington, D.C., does not like outsiders," Zacharia said. "... (My job) is to amplify the wins and historic record-setting precedent that President Trump has set, especially ahead of the most consequential midterms." She continued: "They would not let me do my job, which was to focus on him and focus on what he's doing to win. And it became too amassed over me.”
Furthermore, Zacharia also suggested that it was "very likely" that she would have remained in her role had she not appeared onHannity with Sean Hannity and Fox & Friends before announcing her departure. "I would hope so. And I likely think I would be, Rob," Zacharia told Finnerty, who asked her whether she would have kept her job if it weren't for those appearances. "But I can't know what would have happened otherwise, though it would be very likely." It’s unclear what Zacharia will do next.