Trump names new press secretary to succeed Karoline Leavitt

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that Katie Zacharia will be the next White House press secretary, succeeding Karoline Leavitt.

Zacharia is a 'loyal and brilliant supporter,' Trump says

In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump said it was a "great honor" to appoint Zacharia to the role, calling her a "loyal and brilliant supporter" and member of the Make America Great Again movement.

Zacharia, a 42-year-old native of California, had been serving as Senior Communications Advisor to Truth Social. She had also earlier worked as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.

Zacharia, in a post on X, thanked Trump and said "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 the administration is making every single day," Zacharia said. "I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out."

Zacharia said her predecessor Leavitt was "fabulous" and that she set a "high standard" to meet for the press secretary job.

Will Zacharia follow Leavitt's combative approach?

Trump had announced that Leavitt would resign in August to spend more time with her young children and family.

Earlier this week, conservative-leaning broadcaster Fox News announced that Leavitt would provide commentary on the network starting from November 1.

Leavitt took a combative approach to questions from the White House press corps during her tenure as press secretary.

In January, she called a White House reporter a "left-wing hack" after a question regarding the fatal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shooting of American citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis. She also had to defend Trump's controversial handling of the Epstein files and the ongoing Iran war.

Leavitt managed to stay in the role for over 18 months — a long tenure for a high-stress job under a demanding president. During Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, he had four press secretaries: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany.

Zacharia's tenure comes as Trump faces low approval ratings due to high energy prices amid the Iran war and the looming midterms on November 3, where the opposition Democrats are expected to make major congressional gains.

Edited by: Karl Sexton