The White House has chosen Katie Zacharia, a lawyer, conservative commentator and adviser at Donald Trump’s media company, to be its next press secretary. She has been offered the job, an official said. It was not immediately clear whether she has accepted.
The White House has chosen Katie Zacharia to be its next press secretary, a White House official confirmed to CNBC on Friday, October 9.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she had been offered the role. It was not immediately clear whether she had accepted.
The New York Times was first to report the choice.
Who She Is
Zacharia is a lawyer and conservative commentator who has described herself as a “hardline Trump supporter”.
According to her LinkedIn profile, as reported by CNBC:
- she has worked since June as a senior communications adviser for Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social
- she is general counsel at Fix California, a conservative activist group founded by Richard Grenell, Trump’s special presidential envoy for special missions
- in March she finished a two-month spell as a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security
She has also made dozens of appearances on political talk shows on Fox News and other conservative outlets.
Who She Would Replace
If she takes the job, Zacharia will succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left the administration in late August.
Leavitt went on maternity leave after the birth of her second child earlier this year. She is due to join Fox News as an on-air contributor in November.
The Timing
The appointment would come less than a month before the midterm elections on November 3.
Earlier in the week, CNBC reported that media organisations had asked a court to prevent a White House ban.
What the Job Involves
The press secretary is the administration’s chief spokesperson, responsible for the regular briefings at which reporters question the White House on behalf of the public.
Image: The White House press briefing room during a briefing in March 2020 (file photo). Official White House photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
