Katie Zacharia flew from California to Washington on a Friday to interview with President Donald Trump for the job of White House press secretary. Four days later, she was standing in front of the press corps.
In between, she made a second coast-to-coast trip. After the interview, Zacharia flew home to pack her belongings, then returned to the capital over the weekend.
Monday went to paperwork. She filled out the forms and supplied the background information the federal government requires of its employees.
Tuesday morning brought her first briefing, which doubled as her first full day on the job. She gave a short session and appeared nervous at the podium.
Zacharia held the position for five days. Some officials inside the administration concede she was handed a tough start.
She has since returned to her California home and stayed out of the public eye. Observers have spotted her working out and wearing a MAGA hat again.
Karoline Leavitt, the previous press secretary, has now addressed the episode.
Speaking with Fox News, she said the job “takes a lot of preparation and sometimes you don’t know how someone will perform until they go out there.”
“We wish Katie the best. The job obviously was not for her, but we wish her and her family well,” Leavitt added.
Zacharia’s allies answered quickly.
“It’s unfair for the former press secretary to continue brutalizing President Trump’s hand-picked successor,” a source familiar with Zacharia’s thinking told The Post.
The source described her approach since leaving.
“Katie has been adamant about not taking any interviews with friendly or hostile press, has declined profile pieces and would like for the coverage to focus on President Trump’s hard work,” the source said. “She will not go on a self-promotion tour because it does not benefit the president. And she remains ruthlessly loyal while facing unprecedented attacks against her.”
Zacharia has offered her own statements on the record.
“I have always been deeply thankful for the opportunity to support President Trump and his agenda in the media in the years before he asked me to serve as Press Secretary,” she told The Post.
“There is no other president in history like him. He has single-handedly saved America with his effective policies, and no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than President Trump,” she said.
She then pointed to the administration’s record.
“He deserves fair coverage of the real wins he is delivering for Americans — historic border security, massive new investments in manufacturing and energy, and the women’s health initiative he and the First Lady just launched. I continue to fully support the incredible work he is doing for the American people and for America’s interests around the world.”
Zacharia told The California Post she has no regrets.
“I’m proud I said yes, stood firm in what I believe, and kept supporting the president even when the circumstances weren’t ideal for me — showing my children what courage looks like in the face of criticism,” she said.
Leavitt says she is now assisting Trump in finding a successor. She called the post “one of the hardest jobs in politics.”
“I’ve offered my help to the president to help him select someone who can serve him and the country well,” she told Fox.
She declined to name candidates.
“I’ll keep my private counsel to the president private, but I do obviously talk to him about what the job entails, and he knows it very well. Nobody understands the press better than Donald Trump. He knows he needs someone who is tough, who is smart, who understands his policies, who is loyal, and who can go out there and put up a fight,” Leavitt said.
“There’s plenty of people who want the job… It’s just up to the president to make that decision,” she added.
A hire may not come soon. The administration is not expected to name a new press secretary before November’s midterm election. “I wouldn’t expect anything new pre-midterms,” a source familiar told The Post.
Leavitt left the press secretary role in August to spend more time with her family, which includes two young children. She now works as a spokesperson for the president’s political arm.
On Wednesday, she spoke at the Make the Heaven Crowded Tour in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she described her preparation for her briefings.
“I prepared like heck for that first briefing especially,” Leavitt said. “I poured myself into my preparation. I read. I studied. I talked to every cabinet member. I talked to the president.”
