Zacharia Pushed for the Fox Interviews That Led to Her Ouster, Texts Show

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026

WASHINGTON

The theory was irresistible: that Katie Zacharia, five days into the most scrutinized communications job in America, had been set up — fed to friendly television by a chief of staff who never wanted her hired. It had a name, too: a "sanctioned hit." The problem, according to text messages obtained by the New York Post and published Sunday, is that the person pushing hardest for the two Fox News appearances that finished Zacharia's tenure was Zacharia herself.

The texts show Zacharia — who stepped down Friday after just five days as White House press secretary — pressing for television bookings in the days after her rocky debut at the podium. "I'd like to do news hits morning and evening," she wrote Wednesday in a text exchange with a White House official about the bookings, which were postponed by a day. The appearances that followed were Sean Hannity's prime-time program on Thursday night and Fox & Friends on Friday morning. Both went badly. By Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump was telling reporters she should "reconsider," and the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary was effectively over.

The Week That Ate a Press Secretary

Start with how fast this all moved. Trump announced Zacharia's appointment on October 9, selecting the conservative commentator and former Trump Media & Technology Group communications adviser to succeed Karoline Leavitt, who had left the role in August. Zacharia started the job on Monday, October 12, and held her first — and only — briefing on Tuesday, October 13. It lasted about 14 minutes. She read heavily from prepared remarks, stumbled over lines, and took just three questions, from reporters at Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. In it, she announced that the administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as ambassador to Greece, and she could not confirm whether Washington had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine — not the kind of question a press secretary gets to leave hanging.

Then came the credential problem, and it swallowed everything else. Trump had described Zacharia as an attorney when he announced her. She holds a law degree from Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law, class of 2011 — but she did not pass the California bar exam that year, never retook it, and was never licensed to practice law in the United States. By Wednesday, a watchdog group had filed a complaint with the State Bar of California asking for an investigation. Zacharia's explanation, repeated across the week, was that the result was "inconsequential" because she had planned to move to China, where she worked for a law firm for several years. That may even be a fair personal account. As a defense for the president's chief spokesperson, delivered live, it never had a chance.

Zacharia, in Her Own Text: "I'd Like to Do News Hits Morning and Evening"

Here is where Sunday's reporting changes the story. A Politico account had characterized the Fox bookings through a source as a "sanctioned hit" — implying Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who reportedly had not signed off on the hire in advance, had orchestrated the appearances to expose Zacharia. The Post's texts point the other way. They show Zacharia pursuing television exposure as early as Tuesday, the day of her first briefing; a Hannity producer wrote that day, "Katie said she can join us from the rally tonight." The messages show consultations with Fox about a post-rally interview and Zacharia leading the push for more camera time — and, the Post reports, they do not show Wiles playing a role in the bookings. The White House has called the claims about Wiles "hit jobs" and a "smear," and Trump said Friday there was "zero chance" of replacing her: she is "going to be here for a long time."

What the cameras captured, once she got them, explains the rest. On Hannity's show Thursday night, pressed on the briefing and the bar exam, Zacharia said: "Given the fact that I'd been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day." Hannity's follow-up — "Am I hearing that you think the staff should have prepped you better?" — hung in the air. On Fox & Friends Friday morning, co-host Lawrence Jones asked whether she wished she had disclosed never passing the bar. "Those questions weren't asked," she replied. Asked whether she still had the president's confidence, she answered, "I'm standing here," gesturing at the live shot from the North Lawn. Hours later, she no longer had the job.

Five Days, and the Record Book

Trump's public send-off was gentle by his standards: he said he had spoken with Zacharia and advised her to reconsider — that "you don't need this." Zacharia posted graciously that working for Trump had been an honor, praising him at length. But the Post reports a White House official saying she "will not be working at the White House anymore," and she was nonspecific Saturday when asked what role she might transition into. She reportedly dined with Vice President JD Vance on Friday night. Former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, now a Fox commentator, offered the most sympathetic professional read on Saturday: anyone in that role deserves grace, but McEnany had roughly two weeks to prepare — Zacharia had a day. "That was pretty much doomed from the start," she said.

The historical footnote is precise, and worth stating precisely: Zacharia's five days appear to be the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary. The comparison everyone reaches for is Anthony Scaramucci, whose 11 days as White House communications director in 2017 became Washington's favorite unit of elapsed time. Different job, same lesson — and hers ran less than half as long. With the midterms on November 3 and the podium now empty, the episode lands in the middle of a much larger argument about this White House's footing; our report on Trump's record-low approval polling has that context, and the nightly wrap carries the week's other Washington news. Five days, one briefing, two interviews she asked for herself. The texts do not make the week any less brutal. They just retire the conspiracy theory that somebody else booked it.