President Donald Trump has selected conservative commentator Katie Zacharia to become his next White House press secretary, according to multiple reports, filling a post that has sat vacant for weeks following Karoline Leavitt's departure. Zacharia currently serves as a senior communications adviser for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, and has also worked inside the administration as a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
The pick was first reported by The New York Times, which said Zacharia was chosen according to two people familiar with the decision. Other outlets offered slightly different framings of where things stand: Reuters reported that she has been offered the position of White House press secretary, while Bloomberg described her as having been tapped for the role outright. The Guardian's account struck a more cautious note, reporting it was not immediately clear whether she has accepted the position.
Axios similarly framed the move as contingent, noting that if she accepts, Zacharia will take over the podium from Leavitt, according to the outlet's report. Neither Zacharia nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment, per the seed facts of the Times' reporting.
Who Is Katie Zacharia
Zacharia is described across reports as a conservative commentator and a frequent guest on conservative media, with regular appearances on Fox News, Fox Business and Newsmax, according to NBC News. She lives in California and has four children, the outlet reported.
Her government experience includes a stint at the Department of Homeland Security, where she worked as a spokeswoman for then-Secretary Kristi Noem, according to Time. Reuters reported that she briefly served in that DHS spokesperson role before departing in March. Before that, Zacharia worked as a legal adviser for Fix California, a conservative group focused on advancing a conservative agenda in the state, according to the same Reuters report. The group was founded by Richard Grenell, according to the Detroit News.
A Podium Left Empty Since August
Leavitt left the press secretary role in August, with Reuters reporting she said at the time that she wanted to spend more time with her young children. The uncertainty that followed stretched on for weeks: Politico reported that more than three weeks after Leavitt announced her departure, Trump had yet to name a successor or publicly lay out a timeline for doing so, and that considerable uncertainty remained about what the White House press operation would ultimately look like without her.
During that stretch, Vice President JD Vance ended a more than 40-day drought in the briefing room by taking reporters' questions himself, Politico reported. The same period saw the administration handpicking which journalists receive access to the president, according to Reuters, a shift that has reshaped how the West Wing manages its relationship with the press corps even as the top spokesperson job sat open.
Whether Zacharia ultimately steps into that role remains an open question for now. Reports have been consistent that she has been offered or selected for the post, but none have confirmed whether she has formally accepted or when she might begin.
