#karoline-leavitt
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Katie Zacharia Is Out as White House Press Secretary After Just Five Days — the Shortest Tenure in the History of the Job, Beating Even Anthony Scaramucci's 11 Days — After the Wall Street Journal Reported She Had Failed the Bar Exam and an Adviser's Question "Did Anyone Vet Her?" Turned Out to Have the Answer "No"; the Real Failure Is Not Her Rough Debut but an Administration That Left the Podium Empty for Six Weeks, Then Installed and Fired a Spokesperson It Had Never Vetted
On October 16, 2026, Katie Zacharia was out as White House press secretary just five days after she started — the shortest tenure anyone has ever had in the role, shorter even than Anthony Scaramucci's famous 11 days in Trump's first-term communications shop. The White House, through communications director Steven Cheung, framed it as a "transition" and said she would continue supporting the president in a new role; CNN, citing multiple advisers, reported it plainly as a firing, with Trump announcing the decision Friday and saying he had urged her to reconsider whether the job was for her. The trigger, per reporting, was not only her widely mocked 14-minute debut briefing but a vetting failure: when an adviser asked "Did anyone vet her?", the answer turned out to be no. The Wall Street Journal reported she had sat for the California bar exam after law school and not passed; Zacharia confirmed she had failed, saying she had been told she could call herself a "lawyer" but not an "attorney." Failing a bar exam is not, by itself, disqualifying for a press job, and a person's hard week does not belong in a record of government failure. What belongs here is the administration's own conduct: it let the briefing room sit dark for roughly six weeks after Karoline Leavitt left, then filled the most visible spokesperson job in the government with someone it had not vetted, put her in front of the country, and fired her five days later. The record-short tenure is not Zacharia's failure. It is the White House's.
The New White House Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia, Debuted With a Roughly 14-Minute, Heavily Scripted Briefing That Took Questions From Only Three Friendly Outlets — Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail — the Daily Government Briefing Now Reduced to a Short, Curated Event After the Administration Banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico and the Television Pool Walked Out; the Rocky Personal Debut Made the Headlines, but the Hollowing-Out of the Briefing Itself Is the Real Story
On October 13, 2026, Katie Zacharia — the new White House press secretary, the 37th, who replaced Karoline Leavitt — held her first briefing. The coverage fixated on how it went for her personally: it ran only about 14 minutes (Fox's Bill Hemmer noted the clock on air), much of it a prepared statement on Trump's midterm rallies and economic and border messaging, and she drew mockery for a nervous slip in which she referred to her husband as "my president," along with visible reliance on her notes. Critics called it a train wreck; defenders fairly noted it was essentially her first day on the job, and the "bombs" framing is the critics' verdict, not a neutral one. A rough first briefing is not, by itself, a scandal; everyone has a first day. What belongs in a record of this administration is not Zacharia's nerves but the shape of the event she was handed. She took questions for roughly five and a half minutes, from exactly three outlets — Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail, all friendly to the administration. That is not an accident of her debut; it is the current design. The briefing did not simply shrink — it had largely gone dark: Karoline Leavitt left the podium at the end of August, and for roughly six weeks the White House had no press secretary and no regular briefings at all, filling the gap only with occasional sessions led by Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche. After the White House banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, and the five-network television pool suspended coverage in protest, the daily briefing — once the central venue where the free press questions the government on the public's behalf — has been pared down into a brief, controlled appearance before a hand-picked, sympathetic audience. (For scale: Leavitt's briefings averaged about 45 minutes; Zacharia's ran under 15.) The new press secretary's debut is notable less for how she performed than for what the performance now consists of.
Trump's Most Loyal Aide — Natalie Harp, the "Human Printer" Who Sits Just Outside the Oval Office and Handles His Truth Social Account — Worked More Than a Year Inside the White House With No Security Clearance, Repeatedly Refusing the Standard Vetting Every West Wing Staffer Undergoes, Until Trump Personally Intervened to Get Her One; a Former CIA Official Called It "Mind-Boggling"
Natalie Harp — one of Donald Trump's closest and most devoted aides, known as his "human printer" for the stream of flattering news clippings and poll numbers she hands him, who sits just outside the Oval Office and has access to his Truth Social account — worked inside the White House for more than a year without a security clearance, according to reporting broken by MS NOW on August 19, 2026. The clearance is a routine step every West Wing staffer completes; Harp repeatedly declined to fill out the paperwork after Trump returned to office in January 2025, and her reason for refusing was never made clear. The problem is her access: national security officials noted that her physical proximity to Trump — in both the West Wing and the residence — gives her exposure to more sensitive information than almost any other senior official, and she had it for a year while un-vetted. Concern grew inside the White House counsel's office and among security officials until Trump himself intervened, after which Harp finally submitted the forms, underwent a federal background investigation, and received the clearance in recent months. A former CIA official called the situation "mind-boggling." Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that Harp "has a security clearance like everyone else" and called her a dedicated team member. The episode fits a documented pattern of the administration treating the national-security vetting system — the safeguard that exists to keep the un-vetted away from classified information — as optional for loyalists: FBI Director Kash Patel similarly granted deputy Dan Bongino a waiver around a key clearance while giving him access to the President's Daily Brief.
Trump's New Air Force One Is a $400 Million Qatari Royal Jet Converted with $934 Million Diverted from Nuclear Missile Funds — It Has Fake Books, Gold Fixtures, and Will Become His Personal Property — Congress Was Never Asked, Pence Called It a "Bad Idea," and the Senate Called It an Illegal Emolument
Trump took his maiden flight on the new Air Force One — a Boeing 747-8 previously used by the Qatari royal family, gifted to the United States by the government of Qatar. The plane is worth $400 million before modifications. The cost of converting it was hidden inside the classified Sentinel nuclear missile modernization program: the New York Times reported $934 million was transferred from the missile project — which is already 81% over budget — to retrofit a luxury jet for presidential vanity. The Air Force has declined to disclose the actual modification cost, citing classification, while Secretary Meink claims it was "less than $400 million." The interior features gold light fixtures, plush carpets, lie-flat seats, wood paneling, Trump's preferred navy-and-red color scheme, and fake books — Karoline Leavitt's Instagram video accidentally revealed shelves lined with decorative volumes simply labeled "library." The plane will become Trump's personal property after his term, transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation at Air Force expense. The Constitution's Emoluments Clause prohibits accepting foreign gifts without congressional consent. Congress was never asked. A Senate resolution formally declared it an "illegal emolument." Mike Pence called it a "bad idea," noting Qatar "supports Hamas" and "financed pro-Hamas protests." Ben Shapiro called it "shady behavior." Meanwhile, the two actual new Air Force One planes Boeing was contracted to build in 2018 for $3.9 billion are now $6.2 billion and four years behind schedule — with delivery pushed to 2028 or later. Trump's original paint scheme for those planes (dark red and blue) was rejected because the dark colors would cause engine overheating. He revived the scheme anyway. The Air Force has not explained how the thermal concerns were addressed.
"I'll Pardon Everyone Who Has Come Within 200 Feet of the Oval"
Per the Wall Street Journal, Trump has repeatedly promised blanket preemptive pardons to his administration before leaving office — "everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval." Earlier he said 10 feet. The radius is expanding. White House: "Learn to take a joke; the President's pardon power is absolute."