Katie Zacharia is facing another wave of questions just days after her brief stint as White House press secretary ended, this time over social media photos with Donald Trump that may have revealed sensitive details on the president’s desk.
Zacharia assumed the press secretary position on Monday but was asked to step down five days later. Her departure followed a troubled first briefing and reports that she had never passed the bar examination, despite referring to herself as an attorney.
On the day she left, Zacharia posted an effusive tribute to Trump that included a photograph of her beside the president behind his Oval Office desk.
A noticeably blurred map could be seen on the desk in that image. In another photograph shared Saturday, showing Zacharia with her family and Trump, the map appeared to have been digitally removed.
The first image prompted online speculation, while the edited version intensified the discussion. Critics questioned why the map would be removed if it contained nothing significant.
Some observers said the outline visible through the blur appeared to match East Potomac Park in Washington, DC. The site has drawn attention as Trump pursues plans to reshape landmarks and federal properties across the capital.
In late June, Trump said on Truth Social that he wanted to renovate East Potomac Park’s “dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course.” The proposal has since faced a legal challenge from the DC Preservation League.
The administration has maintained that no final golf course design exists. However, opponents of the project have pointed to the map on Trump’s desk as possible evidence that plans may already be further along.
Katie Zacharia faced scrutiny after sharing this photograph with Trump, in which a blurred map can be seen on his desk. Observers said its outline resembled East Potomac Park in Washington, DC
In a second image posted by Zacharia, the map appears to have been digitally erased, prompting questions about why it was removed
Zacharia spent only five days as White House press secretary after a difficult first briefing. She is shown during that appearance
Save East Po, an advocacy group opposing the renovation, reposted Zacharia’s image Friday with the message: “FYI to anyone paying attention – that blurred out map on the PRESIDENT’S DESK is East Potomac Park.”
In a subsequent post featuring the second photograph, the group wrote: “Nothing says ‘we have no plan’ like a photo of plan-shaped map on the President’s desk, followed by a second photo where that map has been digitally removed.”
Alex Rosen, founder of Save East Po, told The Washington Post that features visible on the blurred map appeared similar to designs for the park renovation that had previously circulated publicly.
The dispute over East Potomac Park escalated earlier this week when US District Judge Ana Reyes barred the National Park Service from removing additional trees after hundreds had already been cut down.
Attorneys for the Trump administration have argued that the tree removal was unrelated to the president’s renovation proposal. Instead, they said, it formed part of a 2019 effort to return the course to its original layout.
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Reyes, who is overseeing the lawsuit against the renovation, expressed doubt about that explanation in a memorandum issued Tuesday.
“It is a coincidence, the Government seems to suggest, that DOI cut down hundreds of trees at the Course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the Course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years,” the judge wrote.
For groups fighting the East Potomac Park project, the blurred map in the Oval Office photograph suggests the administration could be preparing to advance renovation plans despite the ongoing court battle.
An advocacy group opposed to the East Potomac Park renovation said the blurred image resembled previously circulated renderings. The map and the park are shown side by side
The National Park Service felled hundreds of trees at the park’s golf course, claiming the work was part of a 2019 plan. A federal judge said she was suspicious of the timing
An advocacy group against the park’s renovation highlighted the map on Trump’s desk and said it indicated he has full plans for the renovation despite claiming the contrary
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung scoffed at those concerns in a statement to the Washington Post that said the outlet was ‘breathlessly obsessing over an innocuous photo’ and suffering from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’
Zacharia similarly told Our News Outlet: ‘It is only fitting that Our News Outlet would turn a very sweet picture into something controversial.’
Trump addressed his goal to renovate East Potomac Park in a Truth Social post on Sunday morning. It is unclear whether the announcement was related to the scrutiny surrounding Zacharia’s posts.
‘Doug Burgum, and the United States Department of the Interior, is very excited about the new Development of a Great Golf Course at the site of the old East Potomac Golf Links. We would like to thank Tom Fazio for his initial conceptual design and ideas, coupled with those of others from within the Golf World and the Department of the Interior,’ the president wrote.
‘Any variance or changes will be made, depending on site conditions, by the Experts in Parks and Recreation, whose experience and knowledge in Seawalls, Landscaping, and Design are second to none.’
Critics have pointed to Trump’s history of pushing through major changes to Washington DC without oversight and have said they are concerned that the park is just the latest example.
The president demolished the White House East Wing to build a ballroom without Congressional approval, advanced plans for a 250-foot arch on Columbia Island without final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission and added his name to the Kennedy Center.
All of those initiatives faced legal challenges. The Supreme Court ruled that construction of the White House ballroom can temporarily move forward, but the other two plans are currently in limbo.
Our News Outlet has reached out to the White House for comment.
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