Katie Zacharia Leaves White House Press Secretary Role

Katie Zacharia left her position as White House press secretary on Friday, October 16, after about five days in the role, but accounts differ on whether she was dismissed or chose to go. The White House said she would transition to another position, which has not yet been identified. President Donald Trump said he had urged Zacharia to reconsider the job and would let her decide whether to remain. He told reporters she had been treated unfairly and said he wanted her to be happy. Those remarks did not clarify who made the final decision. The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that she was dismissed. White House communications director Steven Cheung said she would move into a new role to be announced later. Zacharia’s departure followed her first White House briefing, held Tuesday, October 13, and scrutiny of her legal credentials. She began the job on Monday, October 12. Accounts describe the briefing as lasting about 14 minutes and say she took three questions. Zacharia later told the Wall Street Journal she had less than 24 hours to prepare and received background material on the morning of the briefing. She said she had tried to do her best...