US President Donald Trump has fired Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary a week after her appointment. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
CNN reported the news on its X account. According to the television channel, the decision was confirmed by the president's advisers.
However, other media outlets are so far reporting only Trump's intention to replace the press secretary.
Trump's comments to Fox News
Shortly before the dismissal was reported, Trump told Fox News journalists that he had advised Zacharia to reconsider her decision to work at the White House.
"I told her: 'Katie, you don't have to do this.' I told her: 'Honestly, in your place I would reconsider,'" Donald Trump told journalists.
According to CNN, the president called Zacharia a devoted supporter and said the media had treated her unfairly. At the same time, he allowed that the position did not suit her. Initially, Trump promised to leave the choice to her and continue the conversation after returning from Georgia.
Debut briefing and doubts
At her debut briefing on 13 October, Zacharia was noticeably nervous and answered only three questions. According to CNN, her performance raised doubts about her readiness for the job among both journalists and administration staff.
Separate questions arose about the new press secretary's legal qualifications. As Reuters reports, Trump presented her as a lawyer at the time of her appointment. Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University's law school, but admitted in an interview with Fox News that she had not passed the bar exam.
Timeline of the appointment
She received the offer to replace Karoline Leavitt on 9 October. Zacharia started work on Monday, 12 October, ABC News clarifies. Thus, a week has passed since her appointment, while she spent five days directly in the post.