Trump's press secretary Katie Zacharia removed after five days

Katie Zacharia has been removed as White House press secretary after five days in the job, making her the shortest-serving person to hold the position in U.S. history, Al Jazeera reported.

Zacharia, the official who speaks to reporters on behalf of the president, had succeeded Karoline Leavitt in the role. She was listed as the 37th White House press secretary.

Before the appointment, Zacharia worked as a communications adviser for Truth Social, President Donald Trump's social media platform, Reuters reported. Trump announced her appointment on Truth Social, where he described her as a senior communications adviser.

She gave her first and only briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on October 13, 2026, according to the White House. That news conference lasted 14 minutes and included three questions from reporters. During it, she confused the words "husband" and "president."

Questions about her credentials followed. Zacharia holds a law degree and described herself as "an attorney" but never passed the bar exam, the licensing test required to practice law in the United States. She had also claimed she had worked as a lawyer in China.

Trump told reporters he believed the press had been harsh toward Zacharia and that he had advised her to "reconsider" the role. The previous briefest tenure for a top White House communications official was that of Anthony Scaramucci, who served as White House communications director for 10 days in 2017 during Trump's first term before he was fired.