White House Spokeswoman’s Brief Career Ends After Repeated Gaffes

Katie Zacharia was removed as White House spokesperson less than a week after taking up the post. The decision followed a series of gaffes that were seen as adding to the problems facing US President Donald Trump.

AFP reported on Saturday (17 October 2026) that a White House official had confirmed Zacharia, 41, had left the position. The confirmation came after Fox News reported that she was “transitioning out” of her role.

News of Zacharia’s removal had emerged after Trump signalled that he was prepared to lose his newly appointed spokesperson.

Zacharia came under scrutiny following criticism of her claim to have been a lawyer, which turned out not to be accurate. She was also ridiculed after her first White House press conference was brief and widely considered poor.

“I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?’” Trump told reporters.

“I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have to do this’ … I told her, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider it,’” he added.

Zacharia took over the role from Karoline Leavitt, who was known for her combative approach to the media. Leavitt had helped Trump reshape White House media coverage by giving more access to outlets considered friendly to the administration while attacking critical media organisations.

On Tuesday morning, Zacharia held her first press conference in the White House briefing room. It lasted less than 15 minutes.

She began by slowly reading out a list of what she described as Trump’s various achievements. She then answered just three questions from reporters.

Zacharia once said China had no decent toilets

Zacharia had previously said that China did not have “decent toilets”. In an interview with a prominent US influencer, AFP reported on Friday (16 October 2026), Zacharia, who had lived in China, recalled perceptions in 2016 that China was poised to overtake the United States.

“We were all told Hillary [Clinton] would win. America’s golden age, or its heyday, was thought to be over. China was being touted as the next great power,” Zacharia said in an interview with Jack Posobiec, a right-wing influencer, broadcast on Thursday (15 October) local time.

“I remember it clearly because I had just returned from China, and I thought, ‘How could China be the next great power? They don’t even have decent toilets,’” she said.

Her comments attracted attention after Trump recently praised his “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

At a summit in Washington DC last September, Trump and Xi discussed a range of issues, from artificial intelligence and trade to the deadlocked Iran conflict. They confirmed that they would meet again later this year.

She claimed to be a lawyer but had not passed the bar exam

Zacharia held her first White House press conference on Tuesday (13 October), local time. It was very brief, and she answered questions from only three journalists.

Before her comments about Chinese toilets surfaced, Zacharia had already drawn attention over her claimed legal qualifications. She described herself as a lawyer, but could not clearly say where she had passed the bar examination, a requirement for practising law in the United States.

She listed her role as legal counsel at a conservative non-profit organisation in California and acknowledged that she had worked at a law firm in Beijing.

Asked about her legal background on Thursday (15 October), Zacharia said she had registered to sit the bar exam but was later “distracted and overwhelmed” by her move to China with her husband.

She acknowledged that she did not retake the examination after returning to the United States.

Zacharia nevertheless insisted that she could call herself a lawyer. She graduated from Pepperdine University with a law degree.

She said that “many people in this field” had assured her she could “label herself a lawyer, not an attorney at law … and provide legal analysis”, given her law degree and experience in business law in China.

“I have been very careful in doing this,” she said.

The Campaign for Accountability, a political ethics organisation, called for the California Bar Association to investigate Zacharia. California is her home state.

“In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a licence is not just bluster; it is a criminal offence,” the Campaign for Accountability said.