President Donald Trump announced Friday in Washington that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will be the next White House press secretary, praising what he described as her unblemished record of support since the beginning of his movement.
Zacharia is a California native who briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year and now works as a senior communications adviser for Truth Social, the social media site owned by Trump Media and Technology Group, where she also assisted the president on the campaign trail. She completed undergraduate and law degrees at Pepperdine University in Malibu, receiving her law degree in 2011, and previously served as general counsel at Fix California, a conservative nonprofit headed by Ric Grenell.
The press secretary position has been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left in late August after the birth of her second child. The White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room has not hosted a briefing since Sept. 3, when Vice President JD Vance addressed reporters and took questions.
Trump said on Truth Social that Zacharia is a devoted fan and member of MAGA and that she will work with the media, the American people and his administration. Zacharia said in a social media post that serving at what she called a critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime and that following Leavitt is a high standard worth meeting. The New York Times was first to report that Zacharia was offered the role.