Trump says new press secretary should ‘reconsider’ her role

President Donald Trump said he encouraged Katie Zacharia to “reconsider” her position as White House press secretary after a rocky start to her tenure.

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Zacharia has faced questions about her resume and qualifications after she presented herself as a lawyer, despite not passing the bar, and holding a widely panned first press briefing. Trump on Friday blamed the news media for her troubles but suggested the job might not be for her.

“I said to Katie, ‘you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,’” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that he thought she been treated “nastily” so far. “I said to her, ‘honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.’”

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When asked if he would force her out of the role, Trump replied that he is “talking about doing something” but that “I’m going to let her make that decision.”

Trump is holding campaign rallies over the next two days in Georgia and Kentucky and also spending the weekend in Palm Beach, Florida. He said he would speak to Zacharia afterward.

“I told her, I think you’re better off being happy and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this job,” he said. “I said, Katie, ‘do you need this? I don’t think you need this.’”

Zacharia has been on the job for just one week and her departure would thrust the White House communications operation back into a state of uncertainty. Zacharia replaced Karoline Leavitt, a longtime Trump adviser who left as press secretary in August.

The turmoil is taking place just over two weeks before the November midterm elections, in which Republicans are struggling to convince skeptical voters to stick with them amid their frustrations over the cost of living.

Should Zacharia leave, Trump would be without a White House press secretary, an official who has traditionally served to amplify the president’s message in the news media.

—With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Skylar Woodhouse.

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