WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that Katie Zacharia, a communications adviser for his media company, will succeed Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.
Trump revealed his selection of Zacharia on his Truth Social platform, where he often makes political and official announcements. Zacharia is a conservative commentator for Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the social media site.
In naming Zacharia, Trump described her as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning.”
In a social media post, Zacharia thanked Trump and called it the “honor of a lifetime.” She added that Trump’s leadership is “a blessing to this country.”
“The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day,” she wrote on X.
Zacharia briefly worked as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year and has been a commentator for Fox News and Newsmax. Trump said Zacharia had been involved in his presidential campaigns, notably in swing states.
A request for comment left with Zacharia was not immediately answered. A LinkedIn profile noted that she earned a law degree from Pepperdine University.
Leavitt announced her departure Aug. 12 and left the position Aug. 27.
She will serve as an on-air contributor on Fox News Channel beginning Nov. 1, the network said Monday.
Leavitt became press secretary in January 2025, and left the position, she said, to spend more time with her young children. Prior to serving in the White House, Leavitt was national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
FILE - Reporters raise hands to ask a question in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - White House staff members remove monitors in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, July 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan in December but told reporters that if it is livestreamed, “I’m not going to be watching it.”
The Republican vice president said, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” when asked about the plans that the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. But Vance then tried to set aside the controversy over the plans for a public execution and said Hasan’s crimes should not be forgotten.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting spree at the military base in 2009.
“So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance said.
“Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” he added.
Vance is a convert to the Catholic Church, which has long opposed capital punishment.
President Donald Trump had endorsed Hasan's execution by firing squad during a Wednesday political event in Texas, suggesting “he deserves it.”
However, Trump was noncommittal when asked Friday whether he wanted the execution livestreamed. "Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump told reporters before traveling to a political event in Syracuse, New York.
But he again endorsed the firing squad as the method.
“He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad,” Trump told reporters. “I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes. And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.”
Trump did not answer when asked if he would watch a livestreamed execution.
Earlier Friday morning, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the U.S. government’s decision to livestream Hasan's execution.
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the conference, said in a statement. He added that the decision was “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
Trump approved the execution by firing squad days after a failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection late last month pushed Tennessee’s governor to halt further executions in that state this year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military hasn’t executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution took place on April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging.
This story has been corrected to show the military base's name is Fort Hood, not Ford Hood.
Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Holly Meyer in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026 in Hebron, Ky., as he departs for a rally in Lima, Ohio. (Samuel Corum/Pool Photo via AP)
