Trump's new press secretary worked only five days and is leaving the post.

Katie Zacharia is leaving the post of White House press secretary after working in the position for only five days, according to Tengrinews.kz citing NBC News. Several sources familiar with the situation told the television channel this. It is noted that Zacharia is leaving the position as quickly as she took it. President Donald Trump's decision to elevate her from the position of political commentator for one of the television channels to White House press secretary was a surprise. The President announced her appointment last Friday, and she held her first briefing on Tuesday morning. On Friday, Trump stated that he would give Zacharia the opportunity to decide for herself whether to remain in the post of press secretary. This came after he suggested that the media had treated her too harshly during the first work week. "I would say they treated her quite rudely. And just two minutes ago I told Katie: 'Katie, you don't have to do this if you don't want to', - said the White House chief." The President added that he would have "thought everything over again" in her place and announced that he would talk to her about the situation later. .@POTUS: "@KatieZacharia has been treated very badly by the media — very, very badly. Very unfairly." https://t.co/DUx6f2ZCMb — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 16, 2026 Zacharia became the center of attention after being introduced as a lawyer, but this week she admitted that she did not pass the qualification exam to practice law after graduating from law school. Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Briefs Members of the Media, Oct. 13, 2026 https://t.co/hSgOl5sdyM — The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 13, 2026 Her sudden departure will leave one of the key communication positions in the White House vacant less than three weeks before the midterm elections in Congress. Earlier, Trump had publicly complained that his administration and the Republican Party were suffering due to ineffective public relations. Zacharia's first briefing at the White House lasted less than 15 minutes. During this time, she only answered a few journalists' questions and could not answer the question of whether the US has stopped exchanging intelligence with Ukraine. During the briefing, the press secretary reported that Trump had asked Kimberly Gilfoil to leave the post of US ambassador to Greece. Zacharia spoke about this after a journalist asked whether the president was going to fire his son's ex-girlfriend due to allegations of improper behavior. A few hours later, Gilfoil announced her resignation. Zacharia replaced Caroline Livit, who left the post of White House press secretary at the end of August. Livit had held this position since the beginning of Trump's presidency in January 2025. Before her extremely short time in the White House, Zacharia gained fame as a conservative commentator. She previously worked as the senior communications advisor at Trump Media & Technology Group - the company that manages the social network Truth Social, owned by Trump.