President Donald Trump named conservative commentator Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary on Friday, filling a role that has sat vacant for more than a month since Karoline Leavitt’s departure.
In a Truth Social post announcing his pick, Trump credited Zacharia’s appearances on Fox News and Newsmax and her work in swing states during his 2024 campaign for landing her the gig. He called her “a devoted fan and member of MAGA” with “an unblemished record of support.” He also again praised Leavitt, whom he called “fabulous.”
Zacharia said on Truth Social that the role is “the honor of a lifetime.” She said she looks forward to working with the White House press corps and reporters nationally, and that Leavitt set “a high standard, and one worth meeting.”
Zacharia briefly served as a spokesperson and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security for about six weeks in early 2026. Most recently, she works as a communications adviser at Trump Media and Technology Group, according to her LinkedIn profile.
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Zacharia wrote in a February social media post that she was “proud to serve” Trump and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in her new DHS role.
During a recent segment on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Zacharia said she had signed all four of her children up for Trump Accounts, the federal investment accounts for minors Trump again touted this week.
Trump has posted clips of an August Fox News segment featuring Zacharia on Truth Social several times. In one, she says Trump is “not getting enough praise” for a decline in fentanyl deaths and calls him the most effective president “for the border and interior enforcement.”
After her stint at DHS, Zacharia served as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative advocacy group founded by Richard Grenell, Trump’s presidential envoy for special missions.
The White House chose not to replace Leavitt as she took maternity leave for a few months earlier this year, and it also never named anyone as an interim press secretary after Leavitt departed permanently at the end of August. Instead, a rotating band of Cabinet secretaries, Trump officials — and even Vice President JD Vance — took turns briefing reporters in recent months.
This article has been updated with a comment from Katie Zacharia.
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