A senior administration official said Zacharia is moving into a different role, which will be announced later. President Donald Trump had said earlier Friday that he would let her decide whether to stay after she faced criticism over her first briefing and questions about describing herself as a lawyer.

“She’s been treated, I would say pretty nastily,” Trump told reporters, adding that he had told Zacharia she did not have to continue in the job. He said he would “let her make that decision.”

Zacharia’s first briefing, on Tuesday, lasted less than 15 minutes. She took a few questions and could not answer one about whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. During the briefing, she also announced that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle announced she was stepping down hours later; she has denied misconduct allegations.

Zacharia came under scrutiny after acknowledging that she had not passed the California bar exam, despite presenting herself as a lawyer. The watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California seeking an investigation into whether her use of the title violated the law. The administration has not announced the outcome of that complaint.

Before joining the White House, Zacharia was a conservative commentator and senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social. She took over from Karoline Leavitt, who left the press secretary position at the end of August after serving since the start of Trump’s current term in January 2025.

The rapid turnover comes as Trump has complained that his administration and party are not getting their message across. At a rally in Oklahoma this month, he said his administration was doing a good job running the country but not at public relations, blaming what he called “fake news.”