NEW YORK (AP) — It's one of the most high-profile jobs in any presidential administration — the White House press secretary. A bridge between the national political media and the president they're trying to cover, the press secretary is no simple mouthpiece.
They answer questions, present the administration's positions and, in the way they interact with journalists, press secretaries can reflect how their boss feels about the media.
That's a reason why so much attention has been directed at Katie Zacharia as she started this week as President Donald Trump's press secretary, after the departure of Karoline Leavitt.
Here are a handful of press secretary moments through recent decades — including one you might not expect.
Only 29 when he was named to the job, Ziegler was press secretary for Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1974. The latter portion of that period was consumed by the Watergate political scandal, in which the administration was implicated and which led to Nixon's resignation. Ziegler downplayed the break-in at the heart of the scandal but on April 17, 1973, he essentially acknowledged previous denials about White House involvement were not true, saying: “This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative.”
Brady had only been in the position of Ronald Reagan's press secretary for just over two months when he was severely wounded by a gunshot during an attempted assassination aimed at Reagan on March 30, 1981. Brady was hit in the head, resulting in brain damage and some paralysis. Popular with the press corps, he was greeted with loud applause on Nov. 9, 1981, when he paid a visit to the press room. He was unable to continue as press secretary but kept the title for the duration of the Reagan presidency and worked in the White House.
Gibbs was named press secretary after the election of Barack Obama, and held the position from 2009-2011. One of the more exasperated moments of his tenure came early in that period, in July 2009, following the arrest of a Black professor by a white police officer at the professor's own home. Obama came under criticism for his commentary around the incident, and invited both men to the White House on July 30, 2009, to talk about it. It was dubbed the “Beer Summit” by media despite the administration's efforts to downplay it as merely a moment of conversation. The day after it happened, Gibbs poked fun at the media frenzy in covering it, like the use of a countdown clock and images from actual geopolitical summits. He said Obama's disdain for “the hoopla ... was much justified.”
Spicer was Trump's first press secretary in his first administration, from January to July of 2017. He immediately started with criticism of the media, and interactions between him and journalists were often contentious. He became the subject of parodies and internet memes, including a portrayal by comedian Melissa McCarthy on “Saturday Night Live.” One of the most memorable moments of his time in the role was the night of May 9, 2017, following Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. Spicer was seen huddling on White House grounds around some bushes, and away from bright lights, largely avoiding reporters.
Psaki served as press secretary in Joe Biden's administration, from January 2021 until mid-May 2022. A recurring theme during that time was sharp exchanges between Psaki at the podium in the White House press room and Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy in the journalists' seats. In one January 2022 press briefing, Doocy asked about a social media comment that the secretary of state had made in support of Ukraine, saying, “Has that ever worked at stopping an authoritarian regime from doing anything?” Psaki replied, “I will have to say that unlike the last administration we don’t think Twitter is the only means of engaging or negotiating or discussing important topics.” Despite heated moments, though, both have said publicly that they had a civil and professional working relationship.
In a case of art and life colliding, the real White House press corps got a visit from a fictional press secretary on April 29, 2016, when “White House press secretary” C.J. Cregg of “The West Wing” television series made an unexpected appearance. Actress Allison Janney portrayed the no-nonsense Cregg in the show and reprised the role for a few minutes before breaking character and talking about why she was really there — the opioid epidemic.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia walks out to speak with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for a man wounded by an immigration officer while driving with his young son in New York said in a court filing Wednesday that the agent who shot him never identified himself before he ran up to the car, smashed one of its windows, then fired several shots into the vehicle.
The account by lawyers for Oscar Belgal contrasted sharply with the version of events outlined by Department of Homeland Security officials. They have said officers opened fire only after Belgal smashed his car into two government vehicles and “accelerated toward other officers.”
The Legal Aid Society, in a petition filed in Brooklyn federal court seeking Belgal's release, said he had picked up his son from school on Oct. 8 and was stopped in front of a fire hydrant, looking for a parking spot, when “an anonymous, masked man” stormed up to the vehicle with his gun drawn, followed by other masked men with guns.
“The men did not identify themselves, show any documents or otherwise communicate with Oscar in any substantive way," Belgal's lawyers wrote. "Instead, without identifying himself, the first man struck and shattered Oscar’s window and began firing a pistol into Oscar’s car while his son cowered in the back seat. One of those bullets struck Oscar in the neck and he immediately began to bleed.”
New York City police security camera footage released by the department last week shows some of the encounter but doesn't conclusively resolve the dispute about how the shooting happened.
The video shows a man wearing a sweatshirt and a red hat running up to the car with his gun pointed at Belgal, then immediately using the barrel of his gun to bash the driver’s side window. The window shatters on the second blow.
A second officer comes into view alongside the car and draws his gun. Belgal then pulls into the street, away from the two officers. The car pulls out of view of the camera, with the officer in the red hat in pursuit.
Whatever happened next didn't appear on the NYPD's security cameras, but the chase ended just a moment later, with Belgal's damaged car resting against a concrete barrier with bullet holes in its windshield and a rear window.
Video from bystanders and NYPD body camera footage show that ICE officers handcuffed Belgal and tended to a gunshot wound to his neck as he sat on the pavement outside the car. NYPD officers took Belgal to a nearby hospital.
DHS didn't comment Wednesday on the claims by Belgal's lawyers, saying the incident remains under investigation. But DHS officials have maintained that ICE officers fired their weapons because they believed their lives were in danger.
Belgal’s lawyers said he didn’t learn the men were ICE officers until he awoke later in the hospital. They say he remains detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has yet to receive surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his neck. They also say he has lost sensation on the left side of his face and is suffering from impaired hearing.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages the jail, didn’t immediately comment.
“Mr. Belgal’s detention was unlawful from its inception. ICE officers shot him in the neck in front of his five year-old son, failed to provide him with immediate medical assistance, and now continue to hold him in a facility notorious for medical neglect,” said Perry McAninch and Elyssa Williams, the lawyers representing Belgal.
At a news conference last week, Marcos Charles, the head of ICE's enforcement and removal operations, said Belgal refused orders to exit his vehicle and then accelerated and smashed into two government vehicles as ICE officers tried to block him from driving away.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has maintained officers didn’t know a child was in the car and blamed Belgal for putting his son's life in danger.
Associated Press reporter Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this story.
In this image taken from police-worn body camera video released the New York City Police Department (NYPD), law enforcement personnel tend to a Oscar Belgal, 28, a Dominican man who was shot by Federal immigration officers, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York, as he drove his car with a 5-year-old boy inside. (NYPD via AP)
Law enforcement work the scene of a shooting Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
In this image taken from police-worn body camera video released the New York City Police Department (NYPD), law enforcement personnel tend to a Oscar Belgal, 28, a Dominican man who was shot by Federal immigration officers, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York, as he drove his car with a 5-year-old boy inside. (NYPD via AP)
