For months, Donald Trump had been watching Katie Zacharia on television.
Then, during a whirlwind 72-hour period last week, the president blindsided even members of his own West Wing by naming the conservative cable pundit as his new press secretary.
Trump selected the 41-year-old mother of four without consulting chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to four sources who spoke to Our News Outlet. The vetting process was so limited that Trump did not know Zacharia had been a protégé of Corey Lewandowski, who was pushed out of the administration in March.
The appointment may have already placed one White House official in jeopardy, while fueling concerns among staff about a post-midterm purge after watching the president make the decision on his own.
Karoline Leavitt’s unexpected departure at the end of August, only three months after the birth of her second child, had already dealt a setback to the White House just weeks before the midterm elections.
Wiles, who had worked closely with Leavitt to manage Trump’s communications operation, had begun searching for a successor months earlier. Her preferred choice was CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings.
White House insiders expected the appointment to be delayed until after the midterms, as Trump faced the possibility of losing both the House and the Senate in a single election.
But the president had become increasingly impressed by Zacharia’s appearances on Fox News, his favorite television network.
Rather than wait for his staff to find a candidate, Trump decided to take charge of the search himself.
Trump had become impressed by Zacharia’s appearances on his favorite network, Fox News, before naming her his new press secretary
Trump selected the 41-year-old mother of four without consulting chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to four sources who spoke to Our News Outlet
By Tuesday, Trump was asking staff members about Zacharia. By Friday, he had made his decision, and the news had been leaked to The New York Times.
White House insiders said Wiles accepted that she had lost the personnel battle. One administration source described the move as the latest in a series of “micro aggressions” by Trump toward his chief of staff.
Zacharia’s appointment also comes at the expense of Richard Grenell, one of Trump’s most staunch loyalists. Grenell once employed Zacharia but has reportedly been kept at a distance by her for nearly a year, while quietly promoting alternative candidates for the press secretary role.
Leavitt, meanwhile, endorsed the choice. “I have no doubt Katie will do great work for President Trump and our country,” she wrote on X after the announcement.
A California native and lawyer trained at Pepperdine, Zacharia has spent the past two years building a reputation as one of the most consistently combative pro-Trump commentators on Fox News and Newsmax.
She describes herself as a “hardline Trump supporter” and has called him “the greatest president in US history” in an op-ed for the New York Post. She also made headlines in February after her gym asked her to stop wearing a MAGA hat.
Zacharia has been married to Tyler Zacharia since 2011. She interned at George W. Bush’s White House in 2006 before joining Trump’s 2024 campaign in the battleground states.
One ally described her as straight out of central casting: polished, blonde and camera-ready, echoing the image of the women who previously held the position.
A California native and Pepperdine-trained lawyer, Zacharia has spent the past two years as one of the most consistently combative pro-Trump voices on Fox News and Newsmax
She is, in the words of one ally, straight out of central casting: polished, blonde and camera-ready, in the mold of the women who have held the job before her
In February she was hired as the on-camera face of the Department of Homeland Security, defending Kristi Noem’s immigration crackdown until she walked out six weeks later.
Since June she has been a communications adviser to Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, while her cable hits kept her on the president’s screen night after night.
Trump, who had met her in California, quizzed aides about her, three sources close to the president told Our News Outlet.
Had they seen her clips? Could she handle the podium? Did she have what it takes to be his next press secretary?
As is his habit, Trump called around to trusted advisers, including Boris Epshteyn and Leavitt herself, to ask what they made of her.
‘Karoline, do you think she can do it?’ he asked Leavitt, who gave Zacharia a glowing recommendation. Then he picked up the phone himself.
Zacharia was stunned when the president called her out of the blue to ask if she wanted the job, people close to her said, and she said yes on the spot.
She had been on Fox News only the day before, praising Trump’s push to fire up voters for the midterms. Trump later confirmed it on Truth Social, calling her ‘outstanding’.
The hire comes seven months after Zacharia walked out of the Department of Homeland Security just six weeks into the job.
She arrived at DHS in mid-February at the same time as Lauren Bis, who was brought in to replace Tricia McLaughlin as assistant secretary for public affairs.
Zacharia, as deputy, was hired specifically to be the department’s television voice, and she was handpicked by Lewandowski, Noem’s chief adviser, sources said.
That patronage became a liability for Zacharia after Trump fired Noem and ousted Lewandowski in early March. Our News Outlet has contacted Lewandowski for comment.
Zacharia no longer maintains a relationship with Richard Grenell, pictured above, and the pair have not spoken in nearly a year, a source close to her said. Grenell is a feared Trump loyalist
DHS insiders at the time branded her a ‘Corey person’, a characterization Zacharia denied
Zacharia’s name landed on an unofficial blacklist of more than two dozen Noem loyalists circulating inside the department.
Bis played a role in pushing her out, making her job difficult and sidelining her from the television role she had been promised, a source close to the White House said.
DHS insiders at the time branded her a ‘Corey person’, a characterization Zacharia denied. She later said constant travel between Washington and her family in California had become untenable.
Bis moved to the White House press shop before Leavitt’s departure, meaning she will now report to the woman she is accused of forcing out of Homeland Security.
‘It would be wise for Lauren to begin looking for a new job given their history,’ the source close to the White House added.
But Zacharia has no intention of coming in guns blazing or settling old scores, people close to her insist. Another source added: ‘There have been no discussions about any staffing changes at this time.’
Wiles played no part in Zacharia’s selection, which sources said was the president’s pick and his alone.
Leavitt called Wiles immediately after speaking with Trump to warn her the choice was made, a White House source revealed.
Lauren Bis moved to the White House press shop before Leavitt’s departure and has a tense history with Zacharia, who she now reports to
Zacharia intends to build a relationship with Trump’s chief of staff Wiles, a source close to the new press secretary said
Trump had raised Zacharia’s name on several occasions before, a source close to the president said, and Wiles often steered the conversation toward Jennings and other candidates she viewed as loyal to her.
‘Susie wanted someone who would be loyal to her and instead Trump chose someone loyal to him, as it should be,’ an administration source said.
‘Wiles wants people she can control,’ another said. ‘This is seen as one of many recent microaggressions of Donald to Susie. He is taking back control, and it is starting to feel more like the first term.’
Zacharia intends to build a relationship with Wiles, much as Leavitt did, a source close to the new press secretary added.
Her break with Grenell runs deeper.
Zacharia no longer maintains a relationship with the man who once employed her at Fix California, the political group he founded, and the pair have not spoken in nearly a year, a source close to her said.
Grenell is a former acting intelligence chief and ambassador to Germany who has a long memory for those who cross him, sources say.
The rift signals that Zacharia is walking into the West Wing owing her rise to Trump alone.
Grenell, meanwhile, lobbied the president for other candidates to get the press secretary job, including former Trump lawyer Alina Habba, sources said. He also pushed behind the scenes for Roma Daravi, his public relations chief during his tenure running the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Asked for comment, Grenell replied with a single word: ‘Haha.’
The abrupt hire has also unnerved staff beyond the press shop.
She has been married since 2011 to Tyler Zacharia and interned in George W. Bush’s White House in 2006 before working on Trump’s 2024 campaign in the swing states
One senior Trump official told Our News Outlet that many in the West Wing are fearful for their jobs after the midterms.
Some suspect the president may carry out a purge, the official said, and his out-of-nowhere hiring of Zacharia, forced through without the usual White House advisers, is being read as a sign he is willing to make sweeping changes on his own.
‘Trump wanted a woman from the start, someone who fit the central casting mold,’ a source said. ‘Katie makes sense. DHS inner politics did not allow her to do the front facing role she thought she signed up for. Now she can.’
Zacharia becomes the seventh woman in a row to hold the job.
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