President Donald Trump has named Katie Zacharia as the new White House press secretary, filling the post left vacant when Karoline Leavitt departed at the end of August to spend more time with her young children.
Zacharia announced the news herself on X and Truth Social on Friday afternoon, shortly after Trump made the appointment official.
“Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote.
She credited the president for his leadership and said she was eager to begin the job.
“President Trump has shown America that we can be great again, and he works to effectuate that greatness every single day. His confidence is a true privilege, and his leadership is a blessing to this country,” she added.
Zacharia said her focus would be on communicating the administration’s record to the public and to the press corps that covers it.
“The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day,” she wrote. “I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out.”
She also acknowledged the person she is replacing, calling Leavitt’s tenure a high bar to clear.
“Following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting,” she said. “God bless President Trump, and God bless America.”
Zacharia holds a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University. She is leaving her post as senior communications adviser at Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group to become the 37th White House press secretary. Before joining Truth Social in June, she served as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and as a spokeswoman at the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump spoke about Zacharia on Friday afternoon as he left the White House alongside Mike Tyson en route to New York.
“She’s a great person,” Trump told reporters. “She’s a friend of most of you. I know she likes people. She likes all of you, actually. I don’t know if that’s good or bad … she’s going to be, I think, terrific.”
