New press secretary out

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss, President Donald Trump.

“Can confirm,” a White House official told Agence France-Presse, after Fox News reported that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out.”

The writing was on the wall earlier when Trump made clear he was ready to see his newly minted spokesperson go amid criticism that she had pretended to be a lawyer and over her one, much-mocked press briefing.

“I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?,’” Trump told reporters. “I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have to do this’... I said to her, ‘Honestly if I were you I’d reconsider.’”

During Trump’s first term in office, the 11-day tenure of financier Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director was widely mocked for its brevity, and even became an internet meme.

Zacharia lasted less than half that long.

“Records are made to be broken,” Scaramucci wrote on X, adding: “But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”

She took over the role from the combative Karoline Leavitt, who helped Trump reshape White House coverage by bringing in more friendly outlets and fiercely attacking critical media.

Zacharia had got off to a rocky start with her debut press room briefing Tuesday morning.

It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a remarkably slow reading out of what she said were Trump’s many accomplishments — then taking just three questions from journalists.

She then was plunged into controversy when it emerged that her previous claims to be a lawyer were not true.