New Press Secretary Zacharia Ends First Briefing in 14 Minutes; Trump Praises Her Debut
WASHINGTON — Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, held her first briefing on the morning of October 13 in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, wrapping up after about 14 minutes and taking questions from just three news outlets. "I am so honored to work for President Trump and the American people as the new White House press secretary," she said as she began. "I want to thank President Trump for his trust that he has placed in me."
In her opening statement, Zacharia ran through what she described as the administration's successes since returning to office, citing campaign rallies, energy, tariffs and immigration, along with figures on wages and jobs. She said her goal in the job is to "amplify" what the president is doing, and added that the president is "his own best spokesperson."
During roughly five and a half minutes of questions, she called on reporters from Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. Asked whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, she said she would follow up with an answer. Asked whether her job was to help Republicans in the midterm elections, she said she intended to "amplify, multiply and expand upon" President Trump's agenda, and noted that the president planned more rallies, including stops in Georgia, Kentucky and Florida. She also said she would keep and expand the "new media seat" in the briefing room introduced by her predecessor.
At the briefing, Zacharia announced that the White House had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, to resign, calling her "a wonderful asset to the team." GSM reported on the Guilfoyle development earlier today.
Zacharia closed by saying: "In fact, I am going to end it because President Trump is heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there." More than an hour later, as Trump departed the White House with Zacharia standing behind him, he told reporters: "I thought she did excellent. She did very good."
The briefing also touched on her family. Zacharia said she and her husband have four children, ages 12, 10, 8 and 6, three of them boys, and that the family will relocate to Washington from California. She said she had stayed home with her children from 2014 to 2020, and that however demanding the work, her children would always be a priority. At one point, while talking about her husband, she misspoke — "my president, excuse me, my husband" — a slip noted by multiple outlets covering the briefing.
Zacharia, 41, holds a law degree from Pepperdine University and has worked as a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax. Earlier this year she briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, and she most recently worked as a senior communications advisor at Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that runs Truth Social. President Trump announced her appointment on October 9; she took office on October 12 and held her first briefing at 9:30 a.m. on October 13. She succeeds Karoline Leavitt, who left the post in August and is joining Fox News Channel.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 扎卡里亚在首场简报会上发言，白宫官方直播画面截图，公有领域（白宫官方 YouTube）
