President Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, held an unusually short first briefing for the media Tuesday, concluding after less than 15 minutes and calling on just three reporters.
Zacharia spent more than half of that time reading remarks before she took questions from Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. It was one of the shortest White House press briefings in recent history.
In response to the Daily Mail, she also revealed that the administration has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, to resign following allegations of misconduct.
Zacharia spent most of her remarks touting Trump’s policies and framed her new position as a job to “amplify” him, which she said she’d done as a conservative commentator. She referred to those appearances, telling reporters that she hopes to “take that into an official capacity.”
Now, Zacharia said, she hopes to “only build on, only amplify and only multiply, to the extent possible, all of the wins” that Trump is “making for Americans, for Americans to understand how much has changed in this brief period of time, what he’s been able to accomplish.”
“My goal is to be able to communicate that in complete tandem with the president, as he is his own best spokesperson and will absolutely be leading the way with that,” she added.
Asked by Fox News whether the U.S. has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, she said she would “have to get back to you on that.”
Zacharia is stepping into the role as the top White House spokesperson in the final weeks before the midterm elections, as Trump is embarking on a series of campaign trips to shore up his base. She said Trump would continue his midterm “blitz,” pointing to future stops in Kentucky, Georgia and Florida.
At the same time, voters are souring on Trump’s performance, which he has chalked up to a public relations issue. Last month, an NBC News poll found that 41% of registered voters approved of his performance, a second-term low.
The same poll found that voters largely disapprove of his handling of the economy. The administration hasn’t shown a path to ending the Iran war, which has raised fuel prices and contributed to inflation. And in recent days, some Republican candidates in battleground races have been breaking with him on his handling of tariffs and the war.
