New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds her first press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 13, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, held her first briefing at the White House on Tuesday after starting her job this week, replacing Karoline Leavitt.
Trump has already said that Zacharia is a loyalist of his, and she's certainly known for promoting a number of bizarre conspiracy theories.
She's already appeared on Fox News, where they incorrectly called her an "attorney." There have been questions about whether she has ever been admitted to the bar. While she may call herself one, there's no evidence she's ever passed the bar exam.
Criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield, who writes at "Simple Justice," said he searched the California bar database, where she was supposed to be admitted. However, her name doesn't appear.
There was always a chance that members of the White House Press Corps would go easy on her, given it is her first day. Meanwhile, CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters, who were briefly banned, were also back in the press room.
MS NOW's Vaughn Hillyard went in with realistic expectations, doubting he'd be called in for a question, but host Stephanie Ruhle urged him to think positively. He joked that he was certain to score a personal interview with the president next.
Zacharia, who spread the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory that nearly led to a mass shooting, started the first event several minutes late to the podium. It was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. but started about 15 minutes late.
She began by harkening back to the first-ever Trump White House press briefing in which Sean Spicer maintained that the inauguration crowd was the biggest "of all time." He then added, "both in person and on time." According to Zacharia, the Ohio arena was "overflowing" with enthusiasm. She claimed it was "energy and excitement never seen before in the history of midterms thanks to President Trump." She called it a "blockbuster rally" with "thousands" of supporters.
Photos and videos showed the sparse crowd was among his most embarrassing ones yet, with large sections of empty seats beside him.
MS NOW pulled from Zacharia's statement less than three minutes into the remarks she read about herself and the midterm campaigns. Former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney said she works for the American people, not Trump, and that promoting Trump's rallies isn't part of her job. Maloney added that this job isn't about her.
The press quickly asked tough questions about the firing of Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Zacharia said he'd asked her to resign. Fox News' Peter Doocy asked whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, and Zacharia had no clue.
The briefing lasted under 15 minutes.
CNN commentator Scott Jennings was also considered for the job, but clearly missed out.
