White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job, following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss President Donald Trump.

“Can confirm,” a White House official told AFP, after Fox News reported that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out.”

The writing was on the wall earlier when Trump made clear he was ready to see his newly minted spokeswoman go amid criticism that she had pretended to be a lawyer and over her one, much-mocked press briefing.

“I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?,’” Trump told reporters. “I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have to do this’… I said to her, ‘Honestly if I were you I’d reconsider.’”

Zacharia only began her job five days ago, taking over from the combative Karoline Leavitt, who helped Trump reshape White House coverage by bringing in more friendly outlets and fiercely attacking critical media.

Zacharia had got off to a rocky start with her debut press room briefing Tuesday morning.

It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a remarkably slow reading out of what she said were Trump’s many accomplishments — then taking just three questions from journalists.

The kerfuffle is a distraction for 80-year-old Trump as he flies around the country trying to boost Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 congressional midterm elections, with polls predicting a drubbing.

The Republican leader himself also faces ever-lower polls as Americans sour over the war against Iran, inflation and perceptions of corruption.

Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.

While she does have a law degree from a California university, she acknowledged Thursday she had failed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practicing law in the United States.

She embarked on a series of damage-control interviews on Trump-friendly outlets, but they did no good.

In one of them, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, a close Trump ally, appeared dismissive of Zacharia.

He asked the press secretary if she ever retook the bar exam. She replied: “I did not.”

“It was never my intent to go into the practice of law,” she said.

In another interview Thursday with pro-Trump outlet Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had registered to take the bar exam but was “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to move to China with her husband.

Zacharia said “many people in the field” had assured her that she could “label myself a lawyer,” given her law degree.

“Fox and Friends,” which often conducts friendly interviews with Trump administration officials, was unusually direct Friday when a host asked Zacharia if she still had the confidence of the president.

“I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me,” she said, sidestepping the question.

Zacharia further stirred controversy on Thursday when she disparaged China, whose leader Xi Jinping was recently Trump’s guest in a pomp-filled Washington visit.

The press secretary recalled the perception in 2016 was that China would soon overtake the United States.

“I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, ‘How is China the next country on the horizon? They don’t even have proper toilets,’” she told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec in an interview.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning responded Friday that Zacharia should “visit China more often.”



AFP

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to see Pope Leo XIV “get well” after the pontiff underwent surgery in Rome this week to remove a cancerous tumor.

“I want to see Pope Leo get well,” Trump told reporters after addressing a campaign rally in Arizona. “It’s big stuff. Anytime you have cancer, but the prognosis seems to be good.”

“I just want to wish him well. Get better fast,” the president added.

Pope Leo’s doctors said Wednesday that he was out of bed, walking and eating after the removal of a cancerous tumor from his lung.

Now the 71-year-old awaits the results of a biopsy to determine if the cancer has spread.

Prayers for the recovery of the Catholic leader of 1.4 billion faithful have been sent from around the world, from the northern Peru city of Chiclayo where he was bishop for eight years, to his US hometown of Chicago and beyond.

Other global leaders also offered best wishes, including Britain’s King Charles III, who is being treated for an undisclosed cancer and last year became his country’s first monarch to pray publicly with the pontiff since the Church of England broke with the Vatican 500 years ago.

Earlier this year, the pope said he has “great love” for the United States, but his stances urging tolerance and protection for migrants have often put the Vatican at odds with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and use of detention camps.

On Wednesday, Trump also noted that he had spoken to the first American pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, in the past.

“His brother’s a friend of mine who’s a great, he’s a fantastic guy, and his wife. You know, they’re big Trump supporters,” Trump said, adding “his brother loves him a lot, loves the Pope a lot, and that’s good. That’s good enough for me.”

Pope Leo XIV will be admitted to hospital on Tuesday morning for an operation to remove a lump from his lung, the Vatican said.

The 71-year-old Leo announced on Sunday that he would undergo an operation “in the coming days”.

The surgery to remove a pulmonary nodule, a small growth of tissue in the lung, will mark the pope’s first hospitalisation since he became head of the 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told AFP on Monday that the pontiff would be admitted on “Tuesday, late morning”.

The recovery time could be about a week, the Vatican said.

The operation is expected to take place at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, which has a dedicated papal suite.

In a surprise announcement following Angelus prayers on Sunday, Leo told assembled crowds in St Peter’s Square that doctors had discovered the nodule “at a very early stage” during recent medical checks.

“The doctors believe it would be right to intervene and so, following their advice, I have decided to have the operation to remove it,” he said.

A pulmonary nodule is a small growth in the lung. Most are benign, meaning they are non-cancerous. But a small percentage can be an early stage of lung cancer.

Most small nodules cause no symptoms and are only discovered during checks for other health issues.

Larger nodules can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent coughing — sometimes with blood.

The operation is normally carried out under general anaesthetic with the patient breathing through a tube.

Rome’s Gemelli hospital, north of the Vatican, is where popes are usually treated.