Katie Zacharia leaving White House press role, report says

Katie Zacharia is leaving her position as US President Donald Trump’s press secretary after five days, RT reported on October 16, citing White House confirmation. Communications director Steven Cheung said she would take another role, to be announced later. The reported departure follows criticism of her first briefing and questions about her legal qualifications. The account has not been independently verified here.

Earlier on Friday, Trump publicly questioned whether Zacharia should remain in the job. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said he had recently spoken with her and asked whether she needed the role. Cheung’s announcement followed several hours later. The supplied account does not identify a successor or give details of Zacharia’s next assignment.

Citing the New York Times, the report said Zacharia relied heavily on prepared remarks during her first and only briefing on October 13, with the question-and-answer portion lasting five and a half minutes. Critics also alleged that she had misrepresented her qualifications as a lawyer after she did not confirm whether she had passed a US bar examination. Zacharia subsequently said she had passed a bar examination in China, where she had worked for a Beijing-based law firm during the 2010s. The supplied account provides no licensing records establishing her qualifications or substantiating the allegation of misrepresentation.