Donald J. Trump’s new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is already facing criticism from inside the administration after a rocky first appearance before reporters. According to the Daily Mail, leaked messages reveal that some of her colleagues were less than impressed with her performance.
The former Fox News personality’s dumpster-fire press briefing lasted only 14 minutes, as she floundered through her remarks. She appeared remarkably uncomfortable reading from her prepared remarks, accidentally called Trump her husband, and ended the session after taking questions from only three reporters.
While Trump and the White House communications team reportedly praised her debut, other administration officials were considerably less forgiving. One senior official said Zacharia could barely read, while another suggested she appeared to have received her notes at the last minute and had not been properly prepared.
"She should have gone on longer and had substantive answers ready,' the senior official said. "She could barely read."
Others questioned whether someone had deliberately put her in a position where she was likely to fail. One insider wondered who inside the White House might have wanted to see her stumble.
The criticism reached beyond Zacharia’s individual performance. One senior official argued that her hiring signaled wider dysfunction within the administration, saying the White House appeared unable to handle growing pressure, particularly as the conflict with Iran continued. Another Republican communications strategist reportedly responded to the briefing with a dumpster-fire emoji.
Not everyone was ready to write Zacharia off. One insider went easy on the new press secretary, suggesting she had been thrown into a difficult situation without sufficient preparation, arguing that the briefing seemed to have been unfair to someone who had never done the job before and hoped her performance would improve with experience.
"Look, Katie has never done that before, and I think it's insane for the press shop to just throw someone to the wolves like that,' a White House insider told the outlet. "But it always gets better."
Is he saying "the best is yet to come"? I feel like we've heard that somewhere before.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, of course, defended the appointment, describing Zacharia as a wonderful addition to the team. According to him, "everyone has been thoroughly impressed with Katie."
These Daily Mail stories aren’t just tabloid trash, they’re simply made up. Up and down the White House, everyone has been thoroughly impressed with Katie in just a few short days on the job. At the end of this second term, she’ll be remembered as one of the all-time greats. https://t.co/DLHxX9d2wq
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) October 14, 2026
However, the controversy surrounding her debut takes place amid separate questions about her professional credentials. Zacharia has publicly described herself as a lawyer, including during an August appearance on Fox News. The Wall Street Journal reported that she failed the bar exam in 2011 after graduating from Pepperdine University’s law school.
Questions about which state had licensed her as an attorney intensified when reporters asked her about her credentials outside the White House. Zacharia responded that she had passed the bar when she moved to China, an answer that did not clarify whether she held a U.S. law license. She later told The New York Times that she had misunderstood the question. Sure you did, hon.
