President Donald Trump’s newest press secretary has been fired after just five days in office amid scrutiny of his record following his widely criticized first and only White House press conference.
President Trump told reporters on Friday that he believed the press had been harsh on new top press secretary Katey Zakaria, but advised her to “reconsider” the role.
Shortly after, Al Jazeera and other media outlets confirmed that Zakaria would be “stepping down” from his position.
This makes her tenure as press secretary the shortest in U.S. history, and even shorter than that of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired after 10 days in office during Trump’s first term in 2017.
His firing gave rise to the term “One Scaramucci,” or “the Mooch,” which journalists and White House observers jokingly use as a time metric to predict how long Trump administration officials will remain in office. Currently, the new time unit “1 Zachariah” is only half as long.
“Records are meant to be broken, but I don’t take pleasure in other people’s pain,” Scaramucci wrote to X this week, recalling his time in the White House.
Here’s what we know about Zakaria’s short tenure.
Why was Katie Zacharias fired as White House Press Secretary?
The White House has not provided a formal reason for Zakaria’s resignation, but the announcement comes amid growing concerns about her competency and professional record.
At his first and only press conference on Tuesday, Zakaria appeared anxious on stage and at times appeared to have trouble finishing his sentences. She fumbled with her words while looking at her notes, once confusing the words “husband” and “president,” and ended the press conference in 14 minutes after taking only three questions from reporters.
The scrutiny intensified after it was revealed that Zakaria, who has a law degree and describes himself as a “lawyer,” had not passed the bar exam required to practice law in the United States, although he studied law in college. She later claimed to have been working as a lawyer in China.
Conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Zakaria in an awkward interview Thursday: “Why didn’t you say, ‘I’ve never been a lawyer?'”
Following news of his resignation, Zakaria wrote to X that it was an “honor” to work for Trump, calling him “a kind, wonderful, respectful, thoughtful, dedicated and hard-working person.”
How was her only White House press conference received?
Zakaria, who replaced former press secretary Caroline Leavitt, was widely criticized as unpolished and unprepared by many of Trump’s allies when he appeared before the White House press corps on Tuesday.
In an interview with Zakaria, Hannity said her performance had been “widely condemned.”
Megyn Kelly, a conservative journalist and commentator, said Zakaria needs to “present himself as a serious person.”
Jen Psaki, a former White House press secretary who worked for Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, compared Zakaria’s difficult press conference to a comedy skit. “Maybe this White House press secretary thing isn’t really about Katie,” she says. “It’s not for everyone.”
As a fellow White House exile, Mr. Scaramucci gave Mr. Zakaria some advice. “Speaking as the world’s foremost expert on short White House tenures, turn off the news and enjoy your family. In time, you will realize that the universe has done you a huge favor,” he wrote to X.
Who will now take over the White House press conferences?
That remains to be seen.
The White House has not announced a permanent replacement, and Trump told Fox News he is “in no hurry” to fill the role.
The vacancy leaves President Trump without a top press secretary as the United States remains mired in a conflict with Iran and faces critical midterm elections next month.
How many press secretaries has President Trump had?
Zakaria is the sixth person to serve as White House press secretary under the Trump administration. He went through four officials during his first term and two so far in his second term.
Zakaria’s predecessor, Caroline Leavitt, had held the position since the start of Trump’s second term in January 2025, but resigned in August to spend more time with her children.
President Trump’s first-term press secretaries were Kayleigh McEnany, Stephanie Grisham, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Sean Spicer.
McEnany and Spicer currently work in media relations. Mr. McEnany hosts several shows on Fox News, and Mr. Spicer contributes to NewsNation and launched his own podcast.
Huckabee Sanders is currently the governor of his home state of Arkansas and is up for re-election on November 3rd.
Grisham left her post as press secretary in 2020 after less than a year to become first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff. She resigned from that position after the January 6, 2021, riot and has since become a leading critic of the US president.
Who else was President Trump appointed and fired?
Zakaria will participate in a roll call of Trump administration officials who will leave office during his second term.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece who was engaged to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., was asked to resign from her post earlier this week after reports surfaced that she gave access to senior government officials to political donors in exchange for money.
President Trump’s firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year amid a controversy over her handling of the file on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein added to the political troubles for his administration.
A month earlier, President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after she came under fire in Congress over a $220 million ad campaign and comments about two Americans shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota.
Mike Walz was one of the first Trump administration officials to be fired during his second term. Walz was fired as national security adviser in early May 2025 after he mistakenly invited journalists to a messaging application to discuss plans for a military attack on Yemen.
