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Left to right: Katie Zachariah, Karoline Leavitt, and Kayleigh McEnany. Alamy
AnalysisEasy come easy go
Just how many press secretaries has Trump had - and who could be next?
Barack Obama had three press secretaries during his tenure, while George Bush had four.
LAST WEEK, ULTIMATE Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White visited the White House, reportedly to meet with Trump over a job offer for press secretary.
Trump later said that he was “only kidding” about offering the job to White.
The hunt for a new press secretary came after Katie Zacharia left her role last month, just five days after she was appointed.
The exit came after it emerged that her previous claims to be a lawyer were not true, and after a disastrous first press conference, US president Donald Trump said she should “reconsider” her position.
Zacharia was the sixth White House press secretary Trump has hired during his two terms as president, and she was the fourth to serve for less than a year.
The role is a demanding one, and it’s not unusual for presidents to go through several during their time in office. Former president Barack Obama had three press secretaries during his two terms in office, while Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had four apiece.
So, who has served to date during Trump’s two non-consecutive White House tenures?
1. Sean Spicer
A naval officer and political commentator, Spicer is the most recent male White House press secretary. He served during Trump’s first term in 2017.
Spicer made a number of controversial and false statements during his 182 days as press secretary, the first of which involved claiming that the press had deliberately underestimated the number of spectators at Trump’s inauguration, and repeating the claim that crowds at Trump’s inauguration ceremony were the largest ever at such an event.
His time spanned 182 days, and after leaving the White House, he appeared on the reality show Dancing with the Stars.
He is now a political commentator and hosts several podcasts, including Full Court Press with Sean Spicer and The Sean Spicer Show.
2. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Sanders served for just under two years, but held fewer press conferences than Trump’s other press secretaries.
Sanders is the daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who now serves as the US ambassador to Israel in the second Trump administration.
She is now the governor of Arkansas – the first female governor of the state – and was elected in 2022. She is running for reelection in the 2026 midterms.
3. Stephanie Grisham
Grisham was the first press secretary to hold no press conferences, instead opting for interviews on conservative news outlets. She served for nine months, and subsequently became press secretary for the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, and, later, her chief of staff.
She also got into an altercation with North Korean officials who attempted to block access to US journalists covering Trump’s visit to the Demilitarized Zone to meet the reclusive country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
She later published an autobiography I’ll take your questions now: What I saw in the Trump White House, leading to criticism of cashing in instead of speaking up during her tenure.
4. Kayleigh McEnany
Kayleigh McEnany was initially a critic of Trump, but soon came around to be a staunch defender.
She began her media career as a producer for Mike Huckabee during his time as a host on Fox News, later working as a commentator on CNN.
After her time in the Trump administration, she became an on-air contributor for Fox News and serves as a co-host of Outnumbered and host of Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany, both Fox News shows.
She was press secretary for around nine months.
5. Karoline Leavitt
Leavitt was the first secretary of Trump’s second term in office.
She was the youngest press secretary in history, aged 27, and served for over a year.
She left in August this year, to spend more time with her two young children and 60-year-old husband.
Leavitt began working for the first Trump White House shortly after graduating from Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, in 2019, first as a presidential speechwriter and then as assistant press secretary.
She previously ran for Congress, winning the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s first congressional district in 2022, but lost in the general election to Democrat Chris Pappas.
6. Katie Zacharia
Zacharia is the shortest-serving press secretary at the White House.
Previously, she was a Fox News commentator, which had caught Trump’s attention. She has a law degree and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Pepperdine University.
Her previous work includes working as a research assistant and working at a law firm in China.
Her downfall came on 15 October, when she said live on Fox News that she had failed the bar exam and had never practiced law in the US.
In Trump’s first term, Anthony Scaramucci was fired as White House communications director 10 days after he was hired.
After the news of Zachariah broke, Scaramucci posted on X: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”
7. Who is next?
Ben Ferguson, a conservative commentator who hosts The Ben Ferguson Show, and a CNN political commentator, has been floated as a possible replacement for Zachariah.
Scott Jennings, also a CNN contributor, and who worked in former US president George W. Bush’s administration, is also in the running for the job.
Other names that have been floated are White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, Breitbart chief Matthew Boyle and Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary during Bush’s first term.
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