Katie Zacharia out as White House press secretary after five days

"Was an honour to work for Trump": Katie Zacharia after being reportedly removed as White House press secretary

Washington DC, October 17

"President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honour to work for him," Zacharia posted on X.

President Trump, speaking to reporters ahead of a rally in Georgia on Friday, said the press had treated Zacharia harshly and suggested that she reconsider continuing in the role.

"They've been so nasty to her," referring to the press. "I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it. But I would reconsider. You got a beautiful husband and family.' I met the family yesterday. Beautiful kids. It's like from a picture postcard. I said, 'You should reconsider. Because you don't want to go through this.'"

Trump denied firing Zacharia, saying he wanted her to have a good life and that the decision regarding her future remained up to her.

"No, no. I want her to have a good life... she's been brutalised by the media," Trump said.

"I said, 'when I get back, we're going to talk,' because I don't think that Katie should be made to suffer like she's suffering at the hands of the press," he said, adding, "So I will talk to her as soon as I get back."

Zacharia's departure follows a tumultuous week marked by criticism of her first White House press briefing and questions about her professional credentials. Trump had announced her as his pick to replace Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down in August.

Questions over Zacharia's qualifications intensified after reports that she had represented herself as a lawyer despite never passing the bar examination. She graduated from Pepperdine Law School but failed the California bar exam in 2011, a fact she acknowledged on Thursday.

— ANI