Kejti Zakariya steps down as White House spokesperson less than a week after appointment
President Trump said he advised her to reconsider the role; questions about her bar exam record surfaced during the week.
Kejti Zakariya has stepped down as White House spokesperson less than a week after her appointment, White House officials said.
President Donald Trump told reporters he had advised her to reconsider taking the job. He said: "I told her: 'I think it would be better for you to be happy, and I'm not sure you'll ever be happy in this job. This job is not easy at all.'" He added that, were he in her position, he would have second‑guessed the decision to accept the role.
Rapid rise, faster exit
Zakariya held her first White House press briefing on Tuesday. According to her account, she received a call the previous Wednesday about a possible appointment and was offered the post last Friday to succeed Karolin Livit; the president then publicly announced her as a lawyer chosen for the role.
Questions emerged during the week over whether Zakariya, who graduated from Pepperdine University in California, had passed the bar exam. In an interview broadcast on Thursday she acknowledged that she had not passed the bar.
Changes at the White House communications post are not unprecedented: Anthony Scaramucci served as White House communications director for only ten days during Trump’s first term.
Photo: press material from the event
