Conservative commentator and Trump Media adviser Katie Zacharia has been offered the position of White House press secretary, a White House official confirmed Friday. If she accepts, Zacharia would succeed Karoline Leavitt, who departed the role in August to join Fox News.
Zacharia's prior government experience includes a brief appointment as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security starting in February. She left DHS in March, subsequently taking on a role as a senior communications adviser for former President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. She has also frequently appeared as a political commentator and defender of Trump on Fox News.
Describing herself as a "lifelong conservative," Zacharia has lauded Trump as "the greatest president in U.S. history." In a February op-ed for The New York Post, she defended her public support for Trump, writing, "I refuse to stay silent. My constitutional rights aren’t negotiable. Tyranny thrives when good people lack courage."
The New York Times was the first to report on Zacharia being offered the press secretary position, citing two individuals familiar with the matter. It remains unclear if she has formally accepted the role, and she has made no immediate public statement.
Zacharia, who is married with four children, initially attributed her departure from DHS after six weeks to the long commute from her home in California, telling Just the News in April. However, reports from the Daily Mail and Daily Beast suggested her resignation may have been linked to her connections with Corey Lewandowski, an associate of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. These reports, citing a DHS insider, suggested Zacharia left before potential dismissals of Noem loyalists could affect her position. Zacharia has denied these claims.