'No One Will Ever Make America Great The Way He Has': Katie Zacharia Praises Donald Trump After Exiting White House Press Secretary Role

Katie Zacharia, who exited her role as White House press secretary after just five days, has publicly praised US President Donald Trump, calling him 'kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic and hardworking' in a social media post following her departure.

“It was an honor to work for him,” Zacharia wrote, adding that she wished more Americans appreciated the president. “No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to,” she said in the post, expressing support for Trump despite her abrupt exit from the White House position.

Fired Or Given New Role?

Zacharia’s message came after US media reports on Friday said she was no longer serving as press secretary. CNN, citing advisers to Trump, reported that the president had fired her. NBC News, meanwhile, quoted a senior administration official as saying she was 'transitioning into a new role' that would be announced later.

Her departure came hours after Trump spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn about their conversation regarding her future in the role. “Katie’s been treated very badly by the media, very, very badly, very unfairly, I think,” Trump said, adding that he had told her she did not have to continue if she did not want to.

He also recalled Zacharia telling him that the job was a lot tougher, to which he responded, “Welcome to the world of Trump.” Trump said he would let her decide whether to stay, although CNN later reported that she had been fired.

Brief Tenure & First Press Briefing

Zacharia, a conservative commentator and former senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, took over the position on Monday, October 12, and held her first press briefing the following day. Trump had announced her selection on October 8 to succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left the post at the end of August.

Her first briefing lasted less than 15 minutes. During the session, she announced that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as US ambassador to Greece but could not say whether Washington had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

She also faced questions over her legal credentials after Trump described her as an attorney. NBC News reported that a senior administration official confirmed on Thursday that she had not passed the California bar examination.

No Immediate Successor Named

No successor has been named, with NBC News reporting that Trump was unlikely to appoint a replacement immediately. Zacharia’s five-day tenure is believed to be the shortest for anyone to hold the White House press secretary position.