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Katie Zacharia, New White House Press Secretary: Career and Debut

Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator and Trump Media adviser, held her first briefing as White House press secretary. Her career and first remarks.

ByPeter Peters
Reporters and photographers seated in rows facing an empty podium and US flag in the White House press briefing room
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. Official White House photo by Pete Souza (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2026 — Katie Zacharia held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Tuesday, four days after President Donald Trump named the conservative commentator to succeed Karoline Leavitt. The White House called her the 37th person to hold the post.

The appointment

Trump announced the choice on Friday, Oct. 9, in a post on Truth Social. He called Zacharia “loyal” and wrote that she “was previously involved in my Campaigns, assisting in key Swing States,” according to the BBC. The BBC noted that she becomes his sixth chief spokesperson across two administrations.

Zacharia thanked him in a post on X: “Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime.” She added that she looked forward “to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out.”

Leavitt left the role in August, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family, and has reportedly taken a job with Fox News, the BBC reported.

Career before the podium

That record of advocacy began long before the appointment. Zacharia has been active in Republican politics for most of her adult life, the BBC reported, starting with internships at the Republican National Committee and the White House Office of Political Affairs under President George W. Bush in 2006.

She studied law at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law, according to a White House official quoted by NBC News. Her LinkedIn profile lists work at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011 to 2013, NBC reported. She later served as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative nonprofit founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell, now Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions.

Her more recent posts were in government and Trump’s own media business:

  • Department of Homeland Security: spokeswoman from February to March 2026, per her LinkedIn profile as cited by the BBC.
  • Trump Media & Technology Group: senior communications adviser since June 2026 for the company behind Truth Social, according to the Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
  • Television commentary: regular appearances on Fox News, Newsmax and CNN, the Journal reported.

She has also written opinion pieces, including a New York Post op-ed earlier this year about being asked to stop wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at her gym. “I would never take my Trump hat off to appease the left,” she wrote.

The first briefing

Tuesday’s debut was brief. It ended after less than 15 minutes, and Zacharia took questions from three outlets, Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail, NBC News reported. In answer to the Daily Mail, she said the administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, to resign following allegations of misconduct.

She opened with thanks to the president. “I am so honored to work for President Trump and the American people as the new White House Press Secretary,” she said, according to a White House release.

She described the job as continuing what she had done on television, saying she hopes to “take that into an official capacity” and to “only build on, only amplify and only multiply” the administration’s achievements, NBC reported. She also said she would keep and “expand on” the new media seat that Leavitt created for nontraditional outlets; Breitbart held it on Tuesday.

After the briefing, a reporter asked which state’s bar exam she had passed, NBC reported. A White House official said she “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials” in China, without naming a US bar admission.

What it means

Analysis: Zacharia takes the podium in the final weeks before the midterm elections, with Trump saying publicly that his administration is “not doing a good job of public relations,” as NBC reported. Her own remarks framed the role as amplifying the president rather than mediating with the press. University of Michigan political scientist Yanna Krupnikov told the BBC the pick “speaks to a blurring of the lines between different media types.” Whether the short format and the selective questioning on day one become the norm is the next thing to watch.

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