Trump taps Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary after Leavitt exit

President Trump named Katie Zacharia his next White House press secretary, tapping a Truth Social adviser and DHS veteran to succeed Karoline Leavitt ahead of the midterms.

President Donald Trump announced the appointment on Truth Social, elevating Katie Zacharia from her post as Senior Communications Advisor at Trump Media & Technology Group. The move fills the vacancy left when Karoline Leavitt stepped down in August shortly after the birth of her second child.

The Daily Caller reported the selection on October 9, 2026, as Trump put a proven loyalist in one of the administration’s most visible jobs less than a month before the midterm elections.

Zacharia thanked the president the same day and pledged to press the administration’s record with the White House press corps and reporters nationwide.

Trump calls Zacharia outstanding and a MAGA stalwart

Trump framed the choice in plain terms on Truth Social, praising her work for his media company and wishing her well in the new role.

"It is my Great Honor to have just appointed, as Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia. Katie currently serves as Senior Communications Advisor to Truth Social (Trump Media & Technology Group), where she has been outstanding!... Good luck Katie! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Just the News reported additional praise from the president, who said she has “an unblemished record of support” and has been “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning,” calling her a devoted MAGA member.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also told the press pool she is “a friend of most of you,” according to the New York Post.

The appointment continues a pattern of Trump placing trusted communicators in high-profile posts, much like other recent White House personnel moves that kept the messaging shop tight and on-message.

Leavitt set a high bar before stepping away for family

Karoline Leavitt held the press secretary job from the start of the second Trump administration. She left in August after having her second child and chose to focus on family.

She is expected to join Fox News, a landing spot that keeps another administration veteran in the conservative media lane.

Zacharia herself marked that standard in her acceptance message, writing that following “the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting.” Readers tracking the handoff can also see the follow-on coverage of Leavitt’s move into on-air work.

The transition leaves the podium with a new face just as the administration heads into a hard-fought election stretch.

Zacharia’s path runs through DHS, Truth Social, and California

The Washington Examiner described Zacharia as a conservative commentator and Trump Media adviser whose selection landed as an unexpected personnel shift in Washington.

Her résumé is deep in Republican communications and law. She briefly served as spokeswoman and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under then-Secretary Kristi Noem.

On February 18, 2026, she posted about that DHS assignment, saying she was “honored and proud to serve” President Trump and Secretary Noem and would “continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.”

Before that, she worked as a legal adviser for Fix California, the group founded by Trump special envoy Ric Grenell. She also served as Senior Communications Advisor to Truth Social.

Her early résumé includes a 2006 internship at the Republican National Committee and time in the White House Office of Public Affairs during the Bush administration. She earned her law degree from Pepperdine University and its Caruso School of Law in California.

That mix of legal training, border-security messaging, and Trump Media experience is the profile Trump chose for the next daily face of the administration.

Trump has repeatedly used bold staffing and platform moves to keep pressure on legacy outlets, a theme also visible when major networks tried to sidestep White House coverage.

Zacharia vows to sell the administration’s wins

Breitbart noted that Trump’s Truth Social post ended speculation over who would take the podium after Leavitt.

Zacharia answered the same day on X with a full-throated statement of purpose.

"Thank you to President Trump for the distinguished privilege of serving as White House Press Secretary. Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime. President Trump has shown America that we can be great again, and he works to effectuate that greatness every single day. His confidence is a true privilege, and his leadership is a blessing to this country. The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day. I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out. Following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting. God bless President Trump, and God bless America."

She cast the job as daily delivery of results, not spin for its own sake. That matches the president’s preference for communicators who already know the record and will defend it without apology.

High-profile White House moments have defined this term, from policy overhauls to summit optics such as when Trump used a White House display to make a point with Xi. The press secretary sits at the center of that message fight every day.

With the midterms close, the podium will face nonstop questions on border security, spending, and executive actions, including moves like the administration’s overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule that shifted more power to parents.

A continuity pick with a clear brief

Zacharia arrives as an insider, not a stranger to the building or the movement. She has already spoken for Homeland Security, advised Truth Social, and worked legal and political fights in California.

Trump’s public case for her is loyalty, competence, and long service to the MAGA project. Her own words put the assignment in the same frame: deliver the wins and meet the standard Leavitt set.

No start date was listed in the initial announcements, and the Truth Social post carried the simple note that he had “just appointed” her. What is clear is the signal. The White House wants a press secretary who already speaks the administration’s language and will not waste time learning it.

Voters will judge the next stretch on results. A press secretary who treats those results as the story, not the media’s preferred narrative, is exactly the hire a second Trump term was built to make.