By Alain Renarld
President Donald Trump on Friday named Katie Zacharia the next White House press secretary, ending a vacancy that opened when Karoline Leavitt left in August. Zacharia, 42, is a California attorney and conservative commentator who has spent the last several months as a senior communications adviser to Trump Media & Technology Group and Truth Social.
Trump announced the appointment on Truth Social, calling her a “loyal and brilliant supporter” with an “unblemished record of support” and “a devoted fan and member of MAGA.” He cited her work at Truth Social, her appearances on Fox News and Newsmax, and campaign help in swing states “where we won 7 out of 7.” Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, he said she was “a friend of most of you” and would be “terrific.” Zacharia thanked him publicly, writing that serving the president and the country at the nation’s 250-year mark was “the honor of a lifetime.”
Born Katie Black in Los Angeles on March 23, 1984, she has been in Republican politics since her early twenties. In 2006 she interned at the Republican National Committee and in the White House Office of Political Affairs during George W. Bush’s second term. She later became general counsel of Fix California, the conservative group founded by Ric Grenell, Trump’s special envoy for special missions, and served as a board adviser to the anti-abortion group White Rose Resistance. She is a frequent guest on Fox News, Newsmax, and CNN.
After law school she spent about two years in Beijing as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm, working on matters connected to the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation, and also managed fundraising for Compassion for Migrant Children. She is married to film producer Tyler Zacharia, whose credits include *The Irishman* and the faith-based film *David*. They have four children and have lived in Westlake Village, California.
Her only prior senior federal job was brief. In February 2026 she joined the Department of Homeland Security as spokesperson and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs. She left after roughly six weeks to two months. She said the commute between California and Washington was unsustainable for her family. Other reporting linked the exit to the upheaval around Secretary Kristi Noem’s departure; Zacharia denied that account. By June she was advising Trump’s media company.
She would be the sixth chief spokesperson across Trump’s two administrations, and the latest in a long run of women in the job — the last man was Sean Spicer, early in the first term. The press secretary runs the briefing room, handles television, and manages an office that has been quiet since Leavitt left. Formal briefings have been sparse; the recent ones were led by Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche. The appointment lands weeks before the midterms, with the administration under pressure on the economy and foreign policy.
The bet is that on-air fluency and personal loyalty will carry a job that is as much about managing the president’s image as it is about answering reporters.
