DONALD TRUMP’S NEW press secretary is facing questions over her legal credentials after claiming to be “a lawyer but not an attorney”.

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia faced the media for the first time on Tuesday and seemed less-than-assured across a short 14-minute press conference. 

During the press briefing, Zacharia only took questions from conservative news outlets Breitbart, Fox News and Daily Mail. 

A number of stumbles during the press conference could perhaps be put down to first-day jitters, but significant questions have been raised about qualifications she has touted in the past.  

Zacharia has described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.

But there is no evidence to suggest that the 41-year-old press secretary has ever passed the bar exam, required to obtain a licence to practice law in the United States, after graduating from Pepperdine University with a law degree.

Before boarding Marine One with Trump on Tuesday, Zacharia was asked directly about whether she had passed the bar exam in a US state and she answered by referencing time spent in China. 

Q: You said Zacharia is an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? What state? ZACHARIA: When I moved to China https://t.co/LUAk4Vhqgp

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2026

When questioned Thursday by conservative media outlet Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had registered to take the bar exam but was then “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to move with her husband to China.

“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 said.

In Beijing, Zacharia worked as a lawyer at a major Chinese law firm.

Later on Thursday, Zacharia appeared on Fox News during an interview with host Sean Hannity.

Hannity is a personal friend of Trump’s, but the interview was also a rough one for Zacharia, who was again forced to explain her legal background. 

Hannity put it to her that she, “consulted with people who advised you it was okay to call yourself a lawyer but not an attorney?”

Zacharia said this was “correct” but when it was put to her that she has identified herself as “an attorney” in 15 social media posts she answered that these “were retweets”. 

Further explaining her position, Zacharia said she never “practiced law”. 

“When I moved back from the United States, I didn’t retake the bar. I had four kids in six years. It was never my intent to go into the practice of law,” she said. 

“When I went to go engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal professionals as to whether or not they agreed that I could be labelled a lawyer, both because I had a valid juris doctor from a good law school, a reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School, and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience. I wasn’t providing any legal analysis, Sean, or excuse me, legal advice. I wasn’t being paid for legal advice.”

Hannity also probed Zacharia about the abruptness of the press conference on Tuesday, to which Zacharia said it took place at 9.30am and followed Columbus Day, which is a public holiday in the US. 

“What I feel is I really stepped up and to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time. I received briefing materials in the morning of Tuesday,” she said. 

Zacharia has succeeded Karoline Leavitt as press secretary, who stepped down in August to care for her young children and who has since become a Fox News contributor. 

- With reporting by © – AFP 2026