President Trump has named Katie Zacharia, a Truth Social communications adviser and former Homeland Security spokeswoman, as White House press secretary after Karoline Leavitt’s family-focused exit.
President Donald Trump announced the appointment on Truth Social, praising Zacharia’s work and loyalty as he filled the vacancy left when Karoline Leavitt stepped down in August. The move ends weeks of speculation about who would take the podium and keep the administration’s message sharp heading into the midterms.
The Daily Caller reported that Zacharia will serve as the next White House press secretary, with Trump framing the choice as a promotion of someone already delivering inside his orbit.
Zacharia currently works as senior communications adviser to Truth Social at Trump Media & Technology Group. She previously served briefly as spokeswoman and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under then-Secretary Kristi Noem. She is also a conservative commentator with a law degree from Pepperdine University, earlier legal work for Fix California, and internships at the Republican National Committee in 2006 and the White House Office of Public Affairs during the Bush years.
Trump cast the hire in personal and professional terms, stressing both performance and long-running support for the MAGA agenda.
Just The News reported Trump’s Truth Social announcement in full force, including his praise for her record.
"It is my Great Honor to have just appointed, as Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia. Katie currently serves as Senior Communications Advisor to Truth Social (Trump Media & Technology Group), where she has been outstanding!... She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning.... Good luck Katie! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
Breitbart noted the same post also cast Leavitt’s tenure in glowing terms as Zacharia steps in.
"Katie is replacing the fabulous Karoline Leavitt, who did a fantastic job as Press Secretary. Good luck Katie! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
That pairing matters. The administration is not distancing itself from Leavitt’s record. It is treating her exit as a family decision and the successor choice as continuity with a proven communicator. Staffing churn is normal in any White House; the test is whether the next voice keeps the same discipline at the podium.
Leavitt had held the job since the start of the second Trump administration and left in August shortly after the birth of her second child. She is expected to become a Fox News contributor, a path already tracked after her White House exit.
Zacharia answered the same day on X, thanking the president and framing the role as both privilege and duty at a symbolic national moment.
Fox News reported that two White House officials had confirmed the selection before Trump’s public post, and carried Zacharia’s own words on the standard she inherits.
"Thank you to President Trump for the distinguished privilege of serving as White House Press Secretary. Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime.... I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out. Following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting. God bless President Trump, and God bless America."
She had signaled the same work ethic earlier. In a February 18, 2026, X post, Zacharia said she was “honored and proud” to serve as DHS spokesperson and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and pledged to “continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.” That track, campaign-aligned messaging, agency work, then Trump Media, is the résumé the president elevated.
The Washington Examiner described her as a conservative commentator and Trump Media adviser tapped for the press secretary post as the administration eyes the 2026 midterms and ongoing fights with hostile media.
Podium changes always draw attention, whether it is a new face or a stand-in moment like when Vance stepped behind the White House podium. This one is a full handoff, not a joke or temporary fill-in.
Zacharia’s background mixes legal training, conservative advocacy, and executive-branch messaging. She previously worked as a legal adviser for Fix California, the group founded by Trump special envoy Ric Grenell. She interned at the RNC and in the Bush White House public affairs shop before earning her Pepperdine law degree.
The New York Post reported additional color from Trump about the hire, including remarks to reporters at the White House and a renewed stress on loyalty.
"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, but we just hired a new press secretary. And she’s going to be, I think, terrific."
Trump also called her “a devoted fan and member of MAGA” with “an unblemished record of support” “right from the beginning.” That is the through-line: not a late convert, not a Beltway free agent, but someone already inside the communication machine.
Leavitt left to spend more time with her family after giving birth to her second child on May 1, according to that reporting. The succession closes a gap that had lingered since August and puts a known quantity in a job that demands daily combat with a press corps often hostile to the administration’s priorities.
White House personnel moves have been a steady theme this term, including cases where Trump has looked to insiders to replace departing officials. Zacharia fits that pattern: she is already on the Trump Media team and previously spoke for DHS.
The press secretary job is not ceremonial. It is the daily interface between the administration’s record and a media culture that often treats conservative governance as a scandal by default. Zacharia’s stated plan is straightforward: communicate “the major wins that this Administration is making every single day” and work with the White House press corps and reporters across the country to get that record out.
That mission collides with real access fights and institutional friction, the same climate that has produced decisions such as locking CNN out of Air Force One for a Trump trip. A press secretary who understands MAGA voters, agency messaging, and the president’s media company is not a random résumé pick. It is a choice built for contested briefings.
Even jokes about the briefing room’s future, including talk of restoring the White House briefing room as an indoor pool, underline how contested that space remains. Whoever stands there needs clarity, stamina, and loyalty. Trump says Zacharia has shown all three.
No formal start-date paperwork or pool spray beyond the Truth Social announcement was detailed in the initial reporting. The public record so far is the president’s post, Zacharia’s acceptance, and corroboration across multiple outlets the same day. For a personnel story, that is enough to establish the fact of the appointment and the profile of the person chosen.
Karoline Leavitt set a high bar with sharp, unapologetic briefings. Katie Zacharia now owns the next chapter, and the job is to keep telling the country what this administration is actually getting done.