President Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, faced widespread mockery online after her nervous debut briefing lasted just 14 minutes and included questions from only three news organisations.
Zacharia relied heavily on prepared notes while praising Trump and promoting his administration’s record before taking questions from Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail.
The question-and-answer portion reportedly lasted approximately five and a half minutes.
Zacharia unable to answer Ukraine question
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Zacharia whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine following tensions between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zacharia was unable to provide an immediate answer, telling Doocy that she would have to “get back to” him.
She did, however, make news by announcing that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, to resign following allegations about her conduct in office. Guilfoyle has denied wrongdoing.
Zacharia then faced a personal question about balancing the demanding White House role with raising four children.
“The idea of not spending evenings with my kids is completely unacceptable,” she said.
She then mistakenly referred to her husband as Trump.
“So my president — excuse me, my husband — is out here,” Zacharia said, prompting laughter inside the briefing room.
She attempted to recover by describing Trump as “the most family-friendly president we’ve ever had”.
Briefing ends abruptly
Zacharia ended the session shortly afterwards, telling journalists they could direct further questions to Trump as he departed for a campaign trip to Alaska.
NewsNation reporter Hannah Brandt said there was “audible surprise” inside the room when the briefing ended. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noted that Zacharia had spent only about five and a half minutes answering questions.
The short appearance quickly attracted ridicule on social media.
“Katie Zacharia makes Karoline Leavitt seem like Winston Churchill,” journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X.
Another user asked: “Is this a hostage video?”
The Lincoln Project declared: “This isn’t going well,” while another commentator joked that Saturday Night Live could skip writing a cold open and simply broadcast the briefing.
Some critics compared Zacharia’s uncertain start to former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, whose first Trump administration tenure lasted only 10 days.
White House and MAGA allies defend Zacharia
White House communications director Steven Cheung rejected the criticism and described Zacharia’s performance as a “tremendous start”.
“She commanded the room and effectively reminded the American people of all the great work President Trump and his administration has done thus far,” he said.
Trump also told reporters that he thought Zacharia had been “very good”.
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet acknowledged that she appeared nervous while reading her opening statement but called the briefing a “solid start”. He praised her for immediately facing reporters rather than postponing her debut.
Conservative influencer Jack Posobiec dismissed the backlash by claiming that liberals “hate conservative women”.
Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who left the White House in August to join Fox News. Whether the new press secretary’s future briefings will be longer — and include questions from a broader range of outlets — remains to be seen.
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