White House press secretary Katie Zacharia dismissed, official says
White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds her first press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2026. (Reuters File Photo)


White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has been removed from her position following public scrutiny and President Donald Trump's remarks urging her to reconsider her role, a White House official said Friday.

"I ​told her: 'I ⁠think you're better off being happy, and I'm not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.' There's nothing easy about this stuff," Trump told reporters while departing the White House.

He added: "I said to her honestly, 'If I were you, I'd reconsider... think about it. But I would reconsider.'"

Fox ⁠News, ⁠citing a White House official, later reported that Zacharia was "transitioning" out of the role of press secretary.

Zacharia started the job on Monday and held her debut White House briefing on Tuesday.

She had said she received a call about the role of ⁠press secretary last Wednesday and got offered the job to succeed Karoline Leavitt last Friday.

Trump later announced her ​appointment. In his announcement, he described her as an attorney.

Over ​the last week, the issue of whether Zacharia, a graduate of California's ⁠Pepperdine ‌University law ‌school, had actually passed the bar - ⁠making her an attorney - ‌came under fire.

On Friday, during a Fox News ​interview on Thursday, Zacharia said ⁠she did not pass the ⁠bar. Anthony Scaramucci served director of communications ⁠for 10 days ​during Trump's first administration.