Conservative commentator and Trump Media adviser Katie Zacharia has been offered the role of White House press secretary, a White House official confirmed to JS on Friday.
Zacharia, who was briefly appointed in February as a spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security, would succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left the role in August and now heads to Fox News.
After leaving DHS in March, Zacharia went on to work as a senior communications adviser for President Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, according to her LinkedIn profile and past online announcement.
She’s also appeared as a political commentator and fierce defender of Trump on Fox News.
Terry Wyatt via Getty Images
Zacharia has called herself a “lifelong conservative” and hailed Trump as “the greatest president in U.S. history” in an op-ed she published with the New York Post in February that railed on liberal activists and critics of her wearing a Trump hat inside a gym.
“I refuse to stay silent. My constitutional rights aren’t negotiable. Tyranny thrives when good people lack courage,” she wrote. “Never back down. Never surrender.”
Her selection as press secretary was first reported by The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear whether she’s accepted the role. She’s made no immediate public comment.
Zacharia, who is married with four kids, blamed the long-distance travel from her home in California for her decision to leave DHS after just six weeks on the job, she told Just the News in April.
That explanation followed the Daily Mail and Daily Beast reporting that she actually resigned over her ties to Corey Lewandowski, the alleged lover of now-former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
After Noem was fired by Trump, DHS moved to identify and oust dozens of Noem loyalists. Zacharia consequently left before that could happen to her, the Daily Mail reported, citing a DHS insider.
Zacharia denied those reports to Just the News.