Trump Surprised by Questions Over Katie Zacharia’s Legal Credentials

Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images Even President Donald Trump was “blindsided” by his own pick for press secretary’s big secret, a new report has revealed.

Trump, 80, was surprised to learn that Katie Zacharia was not an “attorney,” as he referred to her on Truth Social in announcing her hire last week, a White House official told Axios , raising questions about the administration’s vetting for high-profile roles.

Zacharia, 41, set a new record for the shortest tenure as White House press secretary, lasting only five days after she was hounded with criticism over her disastrous debut and questions over her legal bona fides.

Trump was unimpressed by Zacharia’s first press briefing because she was visibly shaky and nervous, according to Axios.

During her 14-minute debut on Tuesday, Zacharia repeatedly stumbled over her words as she read prepared remarks and only fielded questions from three reporters, all from conservative news outlets.

But the car-crash briefing was only the start of her troubles.

Zacharia soon faced a barrage of questions about her legal background after journalists found no evidence that she passed the bar or was admitted to practice law in any state—despite years of calling herself a “lawyer.” When asked outside the White House this week which state Zacharia passed the bar exam in, the president deferred to his then-newly hired press secretary, who replied, “When I moved to China.” Trump did a double take at that nonsensical answer.

After the Wall Street Journal reported that Zacharia failed the California bar exam in 2011, she came clean in an interview with right-wing conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.

Zacharia said she failed because she was preoccupied with preparing to move to China, where her husband, Tyler, worked for an American private equity firm.

“I had already pre-registered to take the bar, and I didn’t wanna withdraw from that.

And we knew we would be moving out to China,” she said.

“And I was obviously incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who had been long-distance from for at least a year and a half, when you include the engagement.” “We just said, ‘Let’s take this time, and I’ll take the bar and see what happens.’ The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China.

And we left shortly thereafter,” she added.

“After moving to China, I think I didn’t really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on.” Zacharia’s LinkedIn page says she worked as an associate on the international practice team at the elite Chinese law firm Zhong Lun and served as “general counsel” for Fix California, a political organization founded by Trump loyalist Richard Grenell.