Who are the shortest-tenured White House press secretaries ever?

Fernando Cervantes Jr. and Erin Mansfield, USA TODAYFri, October 16, 2026 at 9:29 PM UTC

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Just five days after taking the job, Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary.

Zacharia was fired Oct. 16 after a rocky debut week marked by scrutiny of her first press briefing and questions about her legal credentials. Her short tenure gives President Donald Trump another shake-up behind the White House

Why did Katie Zacharia leave the press secretary role?

Trump publicly cast doubt on Zacharia’s future shortly before reports of her departure emerged.

“Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” Trump said to reporters Oct. 16 about what he told her. He also said Zacharia had been treated “pretty nastily” and “very unfairly” by the media.

Asked whether he planned to fire her, Trump said no and indicated that the decision would be hers. He said he planned to speak with her again after returning from a campaign trip to Georgia.

A White House official told Fox News that she was “transitioning out,” while NBC News reported that she was expected to move into another role that would be announced later.

What happened during Katie Zacharia’s first week?

Zacharia’s tenure got off to a rocky start.

Her first White House briefing Oct. 13 lasted about 14 minutes, and she took questions from three news outlets: Breitbart News, Fox News and the Daily Mail. The appearance drew criticism over her limited engagement with reporters.

She also faced mounting questions about her legal background.

Zacharia, a graduate of Pepperdine University’s law school, acknowledged that she failed the California bar exam. She is not licensed to practice law.

“The results of the bar exam were inconsequential because I was already moving to a foreign country that didn’t require it,” Zacharia told USA TODAY.

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Katie Zacharia lasted about half a Scaramucci

There’s another way to measure just how brief Zacharia’s tenure was: about half a Scaramucci.

Anthony Scaramucci spent roughly 10 days as White House communications director during Trump’s first administration in 2017. Some accounts describe the tenure as 11 days, depending on whether both his first and final days are included. His name later became shorthand for an exceptionally brief stint in Washington.

Zacharia lasted about half that long, although she and Scaramucci held different positions.

“Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain,” Scaramucci wrote on X.

Was Katie Zacharia the shortest-serving White House press secretary?

At five days, Zacharia’s stint is being reported as the shortest tenure for a White House press secretary. Historical comparisons can vary, however, depending on how acting and transitional service is counted.

Jerald terHorst served about a month under Gerald Ford in 1974 before resigning over Ford’s decision to pardon former President Richard Nixon.

Jonathan Daniels served briefly at the end of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency and the beginning of Harry Truman’s. Stephen Early, who had previously spent years as Roosevelt’s press secretary, also returned for roughly two weeks during the transition to Truman.

Whatever the historical accounting, Zacharia’s stay behind the White House podium was remarkably brief: appointed one week, out the next.

Who are some of the shortest-serving White House press secretaries?

Using inclusive calendar days and including acting and de facto service, Zacharia’s five-day stint ranks as the shortest

Katie Zacharia: 5 days, Donald Trump

Jerald terHorst: 31 days, Gerald Ford

Jonathan Daniels: 48 days, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman

Sean Spicer: 182 days, Donald Trump

Stephanie Grisham: 281 days, Donald Trump

Kayleigh McEnany: 288 days, Donald Trump

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the shortest-tenured White House press secretaries ever?

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