New Katie Zacharia, the recently appointed White House press secretary, received personal instructions from Donald Trump shortly before her first appearance before reporters, according to a report by the New York Post.
Oval Office briefing before the briefing
According to the report, Trump summoned Zacharia to the Oval Office shortly before her scheduled press briefing on Tuesday morning.
The meeting reportedly delayed the start of the briefing slightly, as the president outlined the issues he wanted highlighted before the press corps.
Among the topics Trump instructed her to emphasise were the administration's achievements and the decision to request the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece.
During the briefing, Zacharia told reporters:
"We asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to submit her resignation. She was a valued member of our team and we wish her well."
Brief first appearance
Following Trump's guidance, Zacharia reportedly devoted the first eight minutes of her debut briefing to promoting the administration's record.
She described Trump as an "active president" and highlighted what she said were positive developments in wages, employment, prescription drug prices and energy production.
The briefing lasted about 14 minutes, with only six minutes allocated to questions from reporters.
According to the report, questions were taken exclusively from journalists representing Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail, while a photograph of Zacharia's notes suggested those reporters had been selected in advance.
Katie Zacharia visibly ‘nervous’ in first White House press briefing https://t.co/8uXkh4FpdL https://t.co/vNW7jUZ7Co
— New York Post (@nypost) October 13, 2026
Trump's direct role in hiring
The report also claims Trump played a hands-on role in choosing Zacharia as successor to former press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
After reportedly being advised to consider her for the role, Trump watched several of her television appearances before contacting her directly by phone to gauge her interest.
At the time, Zacharia was working as an adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social.
According to the report, she later assured Trump that her departure would not disrupt the company's operations.
Rapid appointment process
The New York Post reported that Zacharia formally interviewed in the Oval Office last Friday in the presence of Steven Cheung, the White House communications director.
Trump is said to have offered her the position during that meeting.
Her appointment was announced on Friday, she officially began work on Monday and had effectively only one day to prepare before conducting her first briefing following final instructions from the president.
Previous government role
Before her White House appointment, Zacharia briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
Her tenure ended after staffing changes that followed the departure of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski.
Lewandowski later defended her appointment, describing her as highly capable and strongly loyal to the president.
Source: New York Post/Proto Thema
