Trump personally prepped Katie Zacharia for first White House press briefing, urged her to dive in
WASHINGTON — President Trump personally prepared his new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia for her first press briefing Tuesday after he urged her to immediately appear before journalists following a breakneck hiring process.Trump brought Zacharia into the Oval Office just before the 9:30 a.m.briefing, making her slightly late, and requested that she use intense interest in her debut to detail his accomplishments and announce his decision to demand the resignation of US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, a source told The Post.In accordance with Trump’s instructions, Zacharia kicked off her initial briefing with eight minutes praising the “energetic president,” claiming “attendance is at record highs” at his rallies and rattling off positive data on wage gains, drug prices, jobs and energy production.That left about six minutes for questions — with Zacharia calling on reporters from Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail.
She broke the news that Trump demanded Guilfoyle’s resignation before leaving the spotlight.A photo of her notes revealed the three reporters had been pre-selected.Her ephemeral appearance followed a similarly speedy ascent — with Trump telling aides early last week that someone had “floated” Zacharia’s name, prompting him to view her TV appearances and then call her in the presence of aides to see if she would consider leaving her advisory role at the company that operates Trump’s Truth Social platform.It’s unclear who floated Zacharia for the position, though Trump had mentioned days prior to advisers a renewed interest in the search to replace Karoline Leavitt.After an enthusiastic initial response over the phone, Zacharia called the president back Wednesday to confirm that her departure from the Trump Media & Technology Group would not cause disruption to the company.Trump gauged Leavitt’s opinion and those of senior West Wing aides.His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was not present for Trump’s...