Kate Zacharia’s first appearance at the White House press briefing lasted only 14 minutes, but a near-end blunder caused a stir.
On Tuesday, when asked how she will juggle her work with raising four children, the newly appointed press secretary made a small mistake in referring to her husband as “my president” before correcting herself, eliciting chuckles in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
The incident, aired live on Fox News, went viral as Zacharia assumed the post following Karoline Leavitt’s resignation.
President Donald Trump announced Zacharia’s appointment to the post on October 9th, praising her as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning” in a post on Truth Social. Zacharia, who is 41, is a California lawyer and conservative commentator who until now worked as a senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social. This year, she served as a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson for some time and has appeared as a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax.
Zacharia started the job on Monday. There had not been a briefing in the briefing room since September 3rd, when Vice President JD Vance took questions from reporters.
A Daily Mail reporter asked the question that led to her stumble, the last of three reporters Zacharia called on.
“Okay, second question for you, if I may, a personal question,” the reporter said. “Your family is in California, your husband, you have four children. I’m wondering how you manage; how are you going to manage that? Karoline Leavitt left because she wanted to spend more time with her family. And also, did she give you any advice on how to handle this job and the people in this room?”
Zacharia responded: “Well, first of all, I want to give my husband an amazing shout-out. We have four kids ranging from 12, 10, 8, and 6. Three of them are boys, so we have a handful. And I adore my family. I love them. They are my priority. I love being with my kids. The idea of not spending evenings with my kids is completely unacceptable.”
It was then that she stumbled.
“So my president, excuse me, my husband, that’s a good one,” she said. “My husband is out here for the week.”
She said her husband was in Washington that week because the family had two birthdays to celebrate. Zacharia and her husband Tyler tied the knot in 2011.
Zacharia told reporters that from 2014 to 2020 she stayed home with her children, reiterated that her family will “always be a priority,” and said that the family plans to move to Washington.
The briefing, which lasted about five minutes, concluded with Zacharia calling on reporters from Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail before saying Trump will leave for Alaska and take questions himself.
She devoted much of her opening speech to praising Trump and promoting Republican campaign rallies three weeks before the midterm elections. She called Trump “the most family-friendly president we’ve ever had.”
She refused to answer a question about whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. She also said the administration has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece and former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., to resign after a Wall Street Journal report about her conduct, a report Guilfoyle’s attorney has disputed.
Social media reaction
Footage of the exchange spread quickly on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media, with many critics describing it as the perfect illustration of a poor start.
Aaron Rupar, a journalist, wrote on X that “Katie Zacharia makes Karoline Leavitt seem like Winston Churchill.” Sports radio host Henry Lake said that Zacharia seemed to struggle with a prepared statement and predicted that her tenure will provide fodder for “Saturday Night Live” sketches.
Some supporters spun it more positively. A post on the conservative site WLT Report on X featured her shout-out to her husband with a heart emoji as a first look at the new press secretary’s family.
Criticism also came from inside the administration. An unnamed White House official told MS NOW reporter Jake Traylor that Zacharia had started poorly and needs to improve fast, or she risks a tenure even shorter than Anthony Scaramucci’s, who was fired as Trump’s communications director after 11 days in the job in 2017.
Leavitt’s resignation
Leavitt, who was appointed as press secretary in January 2025, announced her resignation on August 12th and left on August 27th, saying that she wants to spend more time with her young children. She is set to join Fox News Channel as an on-air contributor on November 1st.
CNN reported that Trump consulted Leavitt before appointing Zacharia to the post.
Zacharia is the sixth person to hold the post of press secretary for Trump in his two terms.
