Katie Zacharia out as White House press secretary after first week

Key points

• Katie Zacharia is removed as White House press secretary after one week.
• Some White House staff learned of the change from news coverage.
• Trump told her she should reconsider the job due to press treatment.

Katie Zacharia, President Trump's new White House press secretary, is being removed from the role after her first week on the job, two U.S. officials told CBS News on Friday. The New York Times first reported that she had been fired. Some White House staff learned about the change from news coverage.

Zacharia was seen at the White House as recently as Friday morning. The White House has not yet indicated who may replace her. The abrupt shift came one week to the day since Trump announced Zacharia as his pick to replace Karoline Leavitt, who stepped aside in August.

Trump's comments and aide's view

Leaving the White House shortly before news of Zacharia's departure broke, Trump signaled that she might not be in the role for long. He said he told her he would "reconsider" taking the job if he were in her shoes. "They've been so nasty to her," Trump said, referring to the press. He added that he told her, "Honestly if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it. But I would reconsider. You got a beautiful husband and family."

One aide said Zacharia spent the week unusually isolated and didn't function as a press secretary. "No one thought she was sticking around long enough to even involve her in actual decision-making," the aide said. CBS News has reached out to Zacharia for comment but she did not immediately reply.

No one thought she was sticking around long enough to even involve her in actual decision-making

— an aide

Scrutiny over qualifications

Zacharia's qualifications and background quickly came under scrutiny as questions arose over her resumé. CBS News and other outlets reported that Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer over the years. She graduated from Pepperdine Law School but failed the California bar exam in 2011, a fact she acknowledged on Thursday. She told the New York Times that the president of Pepperdine University advised her at one point that she could call herself a "lawyer" but not an "attorney."

Zacharia told conservative commentator Jack Posobiec that she never described herself as an "attorney at law," and said there's a "lot of misinformation around the fact that I labeled myself a lawyer." "I was very careful how I executed this. I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law," Zacharia said. Her abrupt departure was reminiscent of Anthony Scaramucci, who survived just 11 days as White House communications director during Trump's first term. "Records are made to be broken," Scaramucci said in a post on X. "But I take no pleasure in other people's pain."