Trump names Truth Social adviser Katie Zacharia White House press secretary, replacing Karoline Leavitt

Political Guyentist · October 10, 20261 min read

Zacharia, a senior communications adviser at Trump Media and a former DHS spokesperson, accepted on X. He fills a podium that has gone 36 days without a formal briefing, since Vice President JD Vance held the last one on Sept. 3.

Zacharia is the 6th consecutive woman to serve as press secretary, per The Hill.
Her DHS stint is reported as February–March 2026 (Washington Examiner, BBC) or about two months ending in April (Axios).
Trump last week: "We're doing an extremely poor job of promotion, and an extremely great job of running the country."

What we’re less sure of6 of 8 claims

Medium
Zacharia accepted the job on X.
This is plausible, but no listed source specifically documents an acceptance post on X. Mediaite covers her announcing a Monday start, apparently on Fox. ABC and Fox 'offered role' headlines suggest acceptance was reported separately. The story gives no attribution.
Medium
The White House podium has gone 36 days without a formal briefing.
Time supplies the 36-day gap, and Sept. 3 to Oct. 9 is 36 days. The American Presidency Project archive is listed but explicitly supplies no gap tally, so this rests on one outlet. The story does not attribute it.
Medium
Vice President JD Vance held the last formal briefing, on Sept. 3.
This appears to come from Time's reporting. No second listed source confirms that Vance gave the last briefing or the exact date. The story does not attribute it.
Medium
Zacharia is the 6th consecutive woman to serve as press secretary.
The story attributes this to The Hill, but it conflicts with the public record. Sanders, Grisham, McEnany, Psaki, Jean-Pierre and Leavitt are six consecutive women since Spicer, which would make Zacharia the 7th. Check The Hill's wording before shipping.
Medium
Zacharia's DHS stint ran February–March 2026 per the Washington Examiner and BBC, or about two months ending in April per Axios.
The story names the Washington Examiner, BBC and Axios, and openly flags that their dates conflict.
Medium
Trump said last week: "We're doing an extremely poor job of promotion, and an extremely great job of running the country."
This is a direct quote attributed to Trump, but no listed source documents it and 'last week' is not dated or located.