White House offers press secretary job to Katie Zacharia

President Donald Trump has offered the position of White House press secretary to Katie Zacharia, according to a White House official confirmed to multiple outlets including ABC News, Deadline, The Hill and the Washington Examiner. Several outlets reported it was unclear whether Zacharia has formally accepted the offer, though CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters and Newsmax described her as having already been selected or picked for the role.

Zacharia is described across outlets as a conservative commentator and communications adviser connected to Trump's media company. The Guardian, NBC News and the Independent Journal Review identify her as a conservative commentator, while multiple outlets including The New Republic, Deadline, The Hill, Fox News and the Washington Examiner report she has served as senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social.

Outlets differ on the timeline and nature of Zacharia's prior government work. Axios identifies her as a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson at the time of the offer. The Daily Wire reports two White House officials told it she previously served as a senior communications official at DHS and as spokeswoman for former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, leaving the agency about six months ago, according to that outlet. The Daily Signal similarly reports she spent about three months as a spokeswoman at DHS.

Zacharia would replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the press secretary role at the end of August. Outlets give differing reasons for Leavitt's departure: The Guardian and NBC News report she left after giving birth to her second child, while the Washington Examiner, Axios and The Daily Signal describe her departure in terms of leaving the administration or wanting to spend more time with her two children. The New Republic reports Leavitt exited to join Fox News as an on-air contributor. Axios additionally describes Leavitt as a 'tenacious Trump loyalist.'

Several outlets attribute the first report of the selection to The New York Times. The Hill and The New Republic both say The New York Times first reported Friday that Zacharia would be named to the post, with The New Republic noting the news was confirmed by CBS News.

How the coverage differed

Coverage across the political spectrum was broadly similar in its core facts, with outlets on the left, center and right all reporting the offer to Zacharia and her prior ties to Trump Media & Technology Group. The New Republic, a left-leaning outlet, used notably different framing than others, headlining its piece around Trump appointing 'Another Blond Fox News Guest' and describing Zacharia as a 'MAGA communications adviser,' a characterization not echoed by other outlets in the supplied material.

Right-leaning outlets such as The Daily Wire and the Washington Examiner emphasized Zacharia's background at the Department of Homeland Security and her work for Kristi Noem in more detail than most center or left outlets, which largely focused on her Trump Media & Technology Group role. The New York Post, also right-leaning, speculated that the move 'could upend the dynamics of Trump's inner circle,' a framing not present elsewhere.

Center outlets, including Axios, Deadline and The Hill, generally stuck to confirming the offer and noting the uncertainty over whether Zacharia had accepted, with Axios specifically flagging its report as a 'breaking news story' subject to updates. Outlets diverged in verb choice describing the certainty of the appointment — some used 'offered' or 'tapped,' suggesting the decision was not final, while CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters and Newsmax used language such as 'picks' or 'picked,' implying a more settled outcome.