President Trump has picked Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary, rewarding a loyal fighter after higher-profile critics fell out of the running.
President Donald Trump selected Katie Zacharia as his new White House press secretary in a rapid move announced Friday, tapping a conservative commentator and longtime backer who will start Monday.
CNN reported that Zacharia was in the Oval Office with Trump earlier Friday morning and thanked him in a social media post the same day. As of last week, she was not even under consideration.
Trump cast the choice as a vote for proven loyalty. In announcing the selection, he pointed to her work for Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group, her frequent appearances on Fox and Newsmax, and a clean record of support from the start.
"She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning."
The hire fills the post left by former press secretary Karoline Leavitt. White House aides had struggled through a search that kept running into higher-profile names who had previously criticized Trump. Lists narrowed, then candidates dropped out over past negative comments.
In recent days, Trump called close allies and advisers for their read on Zacharia. He sought Leavitt’s counsel before making a final decision and offering the job.
Leavitt congratulated the pick on social media and made her backing plain.
"As I told the President, Katie has my full support and I will be cheering for her and the entire team at the White House every day."
Zacharia told Fox News Friday evening how the call landed. She said the president “loved what a fighter I was for him.”
"I got a wonderful phone call from the chief talent recruiter, the president himself, and it turns out that being a huge supporter of all of his policies actually works."
That framing matches the administration’s broader push to staff up with people who will sell results, not undercut them. Readers tracking White House priorities have seen the same pattern in concrete enforcement moves, including how the Trump administration has removed more than 3 million illegal immigrants.
Zacharia first came to Washington in 2006 as an intern for the Republican National Committee during the George W. Bush administration. She later served as legal adviser for Fix California, the conservative group founded by Trump ally Richard Grenell.
She logged a two-month stint as a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, commuting from California, where she lives with young children. She told a friend that commute was not sustainable. Since June she has worked as a senior communications adviser at Trump Media and Technology Group and Truth Social, work Trump highlighted when he announced the hire.
She has also been a frequent guest on Fox, Newsmax, and CNN. Her DHS background sits alongside other administration actions on borders and workforce rules, such as the decision that pulled 28,000 trucker licenses from non-citizens and opened seats for veterans.
Zacharia said she will start the job Monday. She did not say when her first briefing would occur. On X she framed the assignment as results and communication.
"The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day."
She added that she looks forward to working with the White House press corps and reporters across the country “to get that record out,” and said “following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting.” In a separate social media post Friday she wrote: “Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime.”
Trump, leaving the White House on Friday, told reporters the new hire already knows the press corps.
“She’s a friend of most of you,” he said. “I know she likes people, she likes all of you. Actually, I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but we just hired a new press secretary, and she’s going to be, I think, terrific.”
While Zacharia was on Fox News Friday evening, Trump delivered remarks in Syracuse, New York. The speed of the selection, from outside the mix last week to Oval Office Friday and a Monday start, underscored how the White House valued a known quantity who had never broken ranks.
That same preference for loyal execution shows up in other recent White House moves, from the deportation of more than 25,000 people to third countries to high-profile economic deals Trump has touted.
Zacharia’s brief now is simple: carry the record into the briefing room every day and keep the focus on what the administration is delivering. After a search that kept discarding critics, Trump chose the fighter who never quit the fight.
