US President Donald Trump has parted ways with his new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, just five days after she assumed the role, according to a White House official.
Zacharia confirmed her departure from the White House, expressing gratitude to Trump and praising his leadership in a social media post.
“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,” she wrote. “It was an honor to work for him.”
Her abrupt exit came amid growing scrutiny over her legal credentials, particularly her failure to pass the California bar examination, which raised questions about her description of herself as a lawyer.
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2011 but did not pass the California bar examination. The issue attracted renewed attention following her appointment, prompting questions about her professional background and whether she had been admitted to practise law in any US state.
The controversy intensified after Zacharia discussed her qualifications in media interviews, including an appearance on Fox News, where she acknowledged failing the California bar examination and said she had not retaken it.
She explained that she had planned to relocate to China following graduation and had therefore not considered the results consequential to her career plans. She also maintained that she had worked in international transactional law.
Her qualifications subsequently became the subject of complaints by watchdog organisations seeking investigations into whether she had misrepresented her credentials or engaged in the unauthorised practice of law. The complaints were allegations and did not establish that she had committed an offence.
Zacharia’s brief tenure was also marked by criticism of her first White House press briefing, during which she delivered prepared remarks praising Trump before taking questions from journalists.
Trump later said he had spoken to Zacharia about whether the position was right for her, suggesting she reconsider her role while expressing sympathy over the criticism she had faced.
Her departure leaves the Trump administration facing another change in its communications team, with questions lingering over the vetting process that led to her appointment and the circumstances surrounding her swift exit.
