Da Spicer a Zacharia, tutti gli ex portavoce di Trump
L’ha presa con sportività, Katie Zacharia, la portavoce più breve della storia che, dopo aver lasciato la Casa Bianca, ha voluto salutare Donald Trump con parole di grande stima. “Il presidente è un uomo gentile, meraviglioso, attento, premuroso, entusiasta e laborioso. Vorrei che più americani lo apprezzassero. Nessuno riuscirà mai più a rendere grande l’America come lui ha fatto e continua a fare. È stato un onore lavorare per lui”, ha scritto sul suo profilo X.
Il messaggio è comparso poche ore dopo l’uscita di scena, a meno di una settimana dalla nomina. Zacharia era stata scelta il 9 ottobre per sostituire Karoline Leavitt, che ad agosto aveva lasciato l’incarico per dedicarsi alla famiglia. A pesare è stato soprattutto il debutto con la stampa: un briefing di quattordici minuti, con sole tre domande, tutte di giornalisti vicini all’amministrazione. In quella stessa occasione è arrivato anche l’annuncio del licenziamento dell’ambasciatrice americana ad Atene, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Alle critiche sulla conferenza si sono poi sommati i dubbi sul suo percorso professionale. Zacharia ha ammesso di non aver superato l’esame da avvocato in California, nonostante si fosse presentata come legale nelle sue apparizioni a Fox News. A quel punto, secondo quanto riportato, è stato lo stesso Trump a suggerirle di fare un passo indietro.
In due mandati presidenziali, Trump ha cambiato sette portavoce. Katie Zacharia è rimasta in carica appena cinque giorni: ecco chi l’ha preceduta.
È stato il primo portavoce della Casa Bianca del primo mandato di Trump. Il suo nome è rimasto legato alle polemiche sul numero di persone presenti alla cerimonia di insediamento del gennaio 2017. Spicer sostenne che si fosse trattato del pubblico più numeroso di sempre, nonostante le immagini mostrassero una partecipazione inferiore a quella registrata per l’insediamento di Barack Obama. In seguito riconobbe di aver commesso alcuni “passi falsi”. Si dimise nel luglio 2017, dopo circa sei mesi.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, due anni
Tra le collaboratrici più fidate di Trump, aveva avuto un ruolo importante nella campagna elettorale del 2016. Il suo periodo alla Casa Bianca fu segnato da rapporti difficili con i giornalisti e da lunghe pause senza briefing formali. Nel rapporto del procuratore speciale Robert Mueller sulle interferenze russe nelle elezioni del 2016 emerse che Sanders aveva ammesso di aver formulato un’affermazione priva di fondamento sul presunto mancato sostegno di “innumerevoli” agenti dell’Fbi all’allora direttore James Comey, licenziato da Trump. Lasciò l’incarico alla fine di giugno 2019. Oggi è governatrice dell’Arkansas.
Stephanie Grisham, meno di un anno
Già portavoce di Melania Trump dal marzo 2017, Grisham lavorava con il presidente fin dall’inizio della campagna elettorale del 2015. Assunse l’incarico di portavoce della Casa Bianca nel luglio 2019, distinguendosi per una scelta senza precedenti: non tenne mai un briefing formale con i giornalisti. Rimase in carica meno di un anno, prima di passare al ruolo di capo di gabinetto della first lady.
Kayleigh McEnany, da aprile 2020 a gennaio 2021
Dopo aver inizialmente criticato Trump durante le primarie repubblicane, McEnany diventò l’ultima portavoce del suo primo mandato. Il momento più delicato arrivò dopo l’assalto al Congresso del 6 gennaio 2021. In una breve apparizione davanti alla stampa, dichiarò che la Casa Bianca condannava le violenze “nei termini più forti possibili” e le definì “inaccettabili”. Trump non partecipò al briefing.
Karoline Leavitt, da gennaio 2025 ad agosto 2026
Già componente dello staff della comunicazione durante il primo mandato di Trump, Leavitt è diventata la più giovane portavoce della Casa Bianca nella storia degli Stati Uniti. Aveva appena 28 anni quando ha annunciato l’uscita dall’amministrazione, spiegando di voler dedicare più tempo alla famiglia. Resta ora una sola domanda: chi sarà il prossimo?
Katie Zacharia marcó el récord del mandato más corto en la Casa Blanca: cinco días, menos de la mitad del récord anterior de 11 días. Surgieron dudas sobre si mintió respecto a su licencia para ejercer la abogacía.
Katie Zacharia came under scrutiny for her legal credentials shortly after her first press briefing on Tuesday.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump chose Katie Zacharia to serve as the new White House press secretary.
After five days, a White House official said that she is "transitioning out" of the role.
Zacharia is among three other former press secretaries with tenures lasting under two months.
Katie Zacharia's first briefing as President Donald Trump's press secretary was on Tuesday. By Friday, the White House confirmed she was out.
The record five-day tenure came after days of missteps by Zacharia, and amid two watchdog groups filing complaints with the State Bar of California on Wednesday, asking it to investigate whether she violated California law by calling herself a lawyer.
While the longest-serving press secretary was Stephen Early, who held the post for 12 years under Franklin D. Roosevelt, only four press secretaries have lasted under two months.
Here's a closer look at White House press secretaries with the shortest tenures.
Katie Zacharia
Katie Zacharia served as press secretary under Donald Trump for five days.
Samuel Corum/Pool/FTWP
Katie Zacharia made her White House press briefing debut on Tuesday and quickly came under intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.
Shortly after Tuesday's briefing, she was asked which state she passed the bar exam in and replied: "When I moved to China."
On Thursday in an interview with right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec, Zacharia said she took the bar exam but failed, and never retook it.
Zacharia moved to China after earning her law degree in 2011, and told Posobiec she had already preregistered for the bar exam before moving to Beijing, where her husband was working at an American private equity firm.
"I didn't want to withdraw from that," Zacharia said of the bar exam. "And we knew we would be moving out to China, and I was obviously incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who I had been long-distance from for at least a year."
She served as press secretary between October 12 and October 16.
Stephen Early
Stephen Early served as Franklin D. Roosevelt's press secretary for 12 years. He briefly served as acting press secretary under Harry S. Truman in December 1950 for 14 days.
Original Caption
Stephen Early is both the longest-serving press secretary in US history and the press secretary with the second-shortest tenure.
He was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's press secretary for 12 years, from 1933 to March 1945.
Early then briefly returned as acting press secretary under President Harry S. Truman in December 1950 after the death of press secretary Charles Ross.
Early was in the position for 14 days, from December 5 to December 18, 1950.
Jerald TerHorst
Gerald TerHorst served as press secretary under President Gerald Ford for 31 days.
UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Jerald TerHorst served as President Gerald Ford's press secretary for over one month, from August 9 to September 8, 1974.
He resigned in protest of Ford's pardon of former President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.
TerHorst said he could not defend Ford's decision in good conscience, despite his long-standing friendship with the president.
Jonathan Daniels
Jonathan Daniels (far left) served as press secretary under both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman for 48 days.
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Jonathan Daniels served a short tenure as press secretary at the end of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency and at the beginning of Harry S. Truman's.
That brings his tenure to 48 days, from March 29 to May 15, 1945.
He was appointed shortly before Roosevelt's death and stayed on temporarily to help Truman transition into the presidency.
Truman then selected Charles Ross as Daniels' replacement.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia held her first conference on Tuesday and left the role three days later.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after five days on the job.
That's likely a record for the shortest-serving White House press secretary in history.
Here are 10 other things that last longer than Zacharia's time in the White House.
Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after five days on the job, officials confirmed on Friday.
The lawyer-ish-person-turned-White House spokesperson had a rocky debut at the podium on Tuesday, during which she stumbled over prepared remarks and later raised eyebrows after she told a reporter that she passed the bar in China.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he told Zacharia to reconsider the role. Later that day, a White House official told Business Insider that Zacharia was "transitioning out" of the position.
By standards of the Trump White House, which had a notorious revolving door during the first go-round, that's pretty short.
There are a lot of other things that lasted longer than Zacharia's tenure. Here are 10 of them.
Anthony Scaramucci as White House comms director: 10 days
Anthony Scaramucci at a White House press briefing.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Scaramucci's firing in July 2017 became a spectacle, not least in part because of his notably short tenure.
First came a profanity-laced call to a New Yorker reporter, in which Scaramucci badmouthed some of his colleagues in the White House. Then came John F. Kelly, laying down the law in the West Wing by firing Scaramucci and making an example of him on his first day on the job as chief of staff.
Yates was a holdover from the second Obama Administration, taking on the AG role after Loretta Lynch stepped down at Trump's inauguration in 2017.
Her position as attorney general was expected to be short. Still, acting AGs from the previous administration typically held on to their roles until the incoming president picked a new attorney general, who would then be confirmed by the Senate.
Yates was fired after she told the Justice Department not to defend Trump's first travel-ban executive order.
Jerald TerHorst as WH press secretary: 31 days
Jerald terHorst
UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
After Zacharia, TerHorst takes the record for the second shortest-serving White House press secretary.
TerHorst served under President Gerald Ford from August 9, 1974, to September 8, 1974. He resigned in protest after Ford granted Richard Nixon a full pardon.
Liz Truss as Britain's prime minister: 49 days
Liz Truss
Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
An opinion piece in The Economist quipped that Truss' premiership will have the "shelf-life of a lettuce."
The comment came after Truss's economic package immediately unnerved investors, sending the pound and government-bond markets spiraling.
Thus, the lettuce meme was born. On October 14, 2022, Daily Star, a tabloid newspaper, was inspired by The Economist's comment and set up a livestream of a lettuce wearing a wig: "Will Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?"
She didn't. Truss resigned six days later. She was the PM from September 6 to October 25, 2022.
A hard-boiled egg in the fridge: 7 days
Hard-boiled eggs
Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Keeping in theme with the foods that last longer than political positions: The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says a hard-boiled egg can be stored in the fridge for up to seven days.
Lady Jane Grey as Queen of England: 9 days
A portrait of Lady Jane Grey
The Print Collector/Getty Images
Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen on July 10, 1553, but her half-sister, Mary — the eldest daughter of Henry VIII — gathered enough political support to overthrow her. Mary would claim the crown on July 19, 1553.
Grey became known as the "Nine Days Queen" and was executed by beheading in 1554.
Apollo 11: 8 days
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
NASA/Newsmakers
The Apollo 11 crew spent more time in space than Zacharia did as the press secretary: 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 35 seconds to be exact.
We can dig in more. Zacharia's first press briefing lasted about 14 minutes, according to recordings. Neil Armstrong spent more time walking on the moon: 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 37 seconds, a NASA report said. Buzz Aldrin was on the moon for about 40 minutes less, according to the report.
Six-Day War: You can guess
A member of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) raises the brigade flag.
Dan Porges/Getty Images
The 1967 conflict between Israel and neighboring Arab states was so short that its duration became its namesake. The war lasted from June 5 to June 10, 1967.
Apple TV+ free trial: 7 days
Apple TV logo
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
You have more time to binge-watch "Severance" or "Ted Lasso" on Apple TV than Zacharia had time in the White House.
Maybe we shouldn't point this out unless we want Apple to realize there are shorter things than the company's free-trial policy.
Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries: 72 days
Chris Humphries and Kim Kardashian
Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian married NBA player Kris Humphries on August 20, 2011. She filed for divorce on October 31, 2011.
To be fair, this may still be more of a reflection on Kardashian than on Zacharia. You would hope a marriage lasts longer than five days, right? Then again, this is the longest thing on the list, so you go, Kim!
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