Guilfoyle asked to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece
Katie Zacharia made her debut as White House press secretary on Tuesday, using the podium to announce that the Trump administration has asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign.
The resignation announcement was the most concrete development from a 14-minute briefing in which Zacharia, the sixth person to hold the role under President Donald Trump, took just three questions, all from right-wing outlets.
Zacharia, 41, previously worked at the Department of Homeland Security and at the Trump Media and Technology Group, according to a Guardian account of her debut. She has described herself as a lawyer; when a reporter asked when she passed the bar exam, Zacharia answered: “When I moved to China.”
In her opening statement, Zacharia read from prepared remarks about Trump’s accomplishments, telling reporters that “attendance is at record highs as enthusiastic, hard-working Americans are lining up and packing arenas to support President Trump and Republicans.” The language echoed Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, whose debut falsely boasted of the biggest inaugural crowd ever. The Guardian reported that Trump’s recent rallies have had plenty of empty seats and an unusually high number of protester interruptions.
The first question came from Breitbart News. The second came from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Zacharia replied: “I will have to get back to you on that.”
The third question, from the Daily Mail, concerned an alleged bribery scandal involving Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr. Zacharia responded: “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well.”
The Daily Mail also asked Zacharia about her family — her husband and four children in California — and how she would manage the demands of the job. “The idea of not spending evenings with my kids is completely unacceptable,” Zacharia said, before adding: “So my president — excuse me, my husband — that’s a good one.” She did not address the verbal slip further before continuing: “President Trump is the most family-friendly president we have ever had. He has hired more women with families and the fact that he knew I had four kids and he knew this job would be demanding and still placed his trust in me shows I know I’m capable of being able to step up to that.”
In closing, Zacharia pledged that Trump would soon answer questions from the South Lawn. The Guardian’s David Smith wrote that the announcement amounted to “a tacit admission that the press secretary job is pointless when there is a president who talks all the time.”
Trump, asked about the briefing afterward, said: “I thought she was very good.” The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political group, posted an image of Zacharia alongside a lettuce to evoke Liz Truss, who lasted only 49 days as British prime minister. Anthony Scaramucci, who was Trump’s communications director for just 11 days — a period now known as “a Scaramucci” — posted: “The clock is running. Thus far 1/11th of a Scaramucci.”