Donald Trump says he told press secretary Katie Zacharia, "You think about it" on staying
“I said to her, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. You think about it.’”
Reported October 18, 2026 by nationnews.com. Checked word for word against that report.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is leaving the job roughly a week after President Donald Trump chose her, Al Jazeera confirmed. Trump told reporters Friday, as he left the White House, that he advised her to rethink staying because he did not want her exposed to press scrutiny; Fox News reported he saw no need to hurry a replacement. Zacharia had succeeded Karoline Leavitt. During her brief tenure, questions arose over whether she had passed the bar exam, and she told Fox News on Thursday that she had not. She held the post five days, shorter than Anthony Scaramucci’s 10-day stint as communications director. Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said the reversal could create political problems for Trump before the midterms, reinforcing criticism that he acts hastily while the Republican campaign is struggling.
- nationnews.com ↗︎18 OCT 2026