Trump urges new press secretary to ‘reconsider’ taking job: ‘Is this for you, Katie?’

President Donald Trump has told his newly installed White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, that she might want to rethink whether the job is right for her, after a bruising first week in which she drew criticism even from Fox News. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday, Trump said the media had treated her badly and that he had asked her whether she needed the position at all, according to The Guardian.

Zacharia, a former conservative commentator who succeeded Karoline Leavitt, delivered a 14-minute briefing on Tuesday, reading from notes and stumbling at times. Her credentials also drew attention: she graduated from Pepperdine University's law school and called herself a lawyer, and Trump described her as an attorney when he named her, but she has since confirmed she never passed the bar exam. On Fox, host Sean Hannity pressed her over the briefing and the terminology. She said she had little preparation time. Asked Friday whether the president still backed her, she replied only that she was still in place.

Trump said Hannity and the hosts of Fox & Friends had been somewhat tough on her, and that she had been treated nastily.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →