Trump picks Trump Media adviser Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary

US President Donald Trump has named Katie Zacharia, a communications adviser at his media company, as the next White House press secretary. The Times of Israel reported that Trump made the announcement on Friday on Truth Social, his own platform, and that Zacharia will take over from Karoline Leavitt.

Trump called Zacharia "a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning," according to The Times of Israel. In her own social media post, Zacharia described the appointment as the "honor of a lifetime" and said Trump's leadership was "a blessing to this country." Israeli news site Ynet reported that the role had gone unfilled for about two months before the announcement, and that Zacharia comes from California.

Who Katie Zacharia is

The three reports describe Zacharia in overlapping terms. The Times of Israel identified her as a conservative commentator for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that runs Truth Social. Ynet likewise said she had worked as a media adviser within the Trump Media group.

Abu Ali Express, an Israeli Telegram news channel, wrote that Zacharia is a Christian, trained as a lawyer, and works as a strategic consultant and as a commentator from the conservative right. Those biographical details appear only in that report and were not repeated by the other two outlets.

Ynet focused on her published opinion writing. According to Ynet, Zacharia has described Trump as a "political titan" and wrote articles likening him to the boxer Muhammad Ali and to Napoleon. Ynet also reported that she spoke up in defence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an arrest warrant was issued against him. Ynet's report did not identify, in the material available to us, which body issued that warrant or where her comments appeared.

What a White House press secretary does

The press secretary is the president's chief spokesperson to the news media. The job involves speaking for the administration at regular sessions with reporters, held in the White House's James Brady Press Briefing Room, taking their questions and setting out the government's position on domestic and foreign policy. Because the press secretary speaks on behalf of the president, the person in the job often shapes how the administration's positions on issues such as Israel and the wider Middle East are presented to the public.

In her statement quoted by The Times of Israel, Zacharia framed the work as continuing to tell Americans about what she called the administration's achievements.

Why Israeli outlets covered the appointment

For Israeli readers, the interest lies partly in Zacharia's past remarks about Netanyahu. Ynet placed her defence of the prime minister near the top of its report, alongside her praise for Trump. Abu Ali Express, which typically covers regional security and Middle East affairs, presented the news briefly, with a short profile of her background.

Truth Social itself has become the usual channel for the president's major announcements. The Times of Israel noted that Trump frequently uses it to release both political and official news, and the press secretary pick followed that pattern.

Where the reports differ

The outlets do not tell the same story about how the vacancy arose. Abu Ali Express reported that Leavitt left the post after becoming a reporter for Fox News. The Times of Israel said only that Zacharia would succeed Leavitt and did not give a reason for her departure in the material available. Ynet, by contrast, said the position had been empty for roughly two months; the other two reports do not address the timing.

The spelling of Zacharia's surname in Hebrew also varies between the two Israeli outlets, though both refer to the same person named in The Times of Israel's English report.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives a date on which Zacharia will formally begin the job or hold her first briefing. They do not say whether the appointment requires any further approval, or who handled the briefings while the post was vacant, if Ynet's account of a two-month gap is correct.

The reports do not explain the circumstances of Leavitt's departure beyond the single claim by Abu Ali Express that she moved to Fox News. Ynet's account of Zacharia's comments on Netanyahu does not, in the material available, say what she wrote or where. Abu Ali Express's description of her religious and legal background is not confirmed by the other two outlets. No report includes reaction from the White House press corps or from Israeli officials.