Trump urges Zacharia to think again

Katie Zacharia's treatment by the media, Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday, had been 'very badly' handled - a verdict he delivered after her 14-minute press conference on Tuesday and the questions raised about her legal credentials.

The president singled out Fox, an outlet normally supportive of him. Sean Hannity, he said, had been 'a little bit tough', and so had the hosts of Fox & Friends that morning. By his accounting, 'She's been treated, I would say, pretty nastily.'

He also recalled the warning he gave her directly: 'Is this for you, Katie? Because honestly, you don't need it.' His advice, in his words:

Fox hosts put Zacharia on the spot

On Thursday evening, Hannity – a close ally of Trump – questioned Zacharia about her first press briefing, in which she read directly from notes and occasionally stumbled over her words for 14 minutes. His opening question to her: 'What happened? How did you feel it went personally?'

The scrutiny continued on Friday morning, in her fifth day as Trump's chief spokesperson, when she appeared on Fox & Friends and was asked whether she still had the president's confidence. Host Lawrence Jones told her: 'You know, Katie, it's been a tough week for you. It's not an easy job to be the press secretary, and you never want to be the story.'

• On Thursday, Hannity pressed her about the stumbling first briefing
• On Friday, Fox & Friends asked whether she still had Trump's confidence
• Trump said Fox hosts had been 'a little tough' on her

Zacharia's responses on air

Asked whether she still had Trump's confidence, Zacharia replied: 'I'm standing here.' She said she had little time to prepare between accepting the job and holding her first press briefing, and noted that the Daily Mail, one of only three outlets she took questions from, was 'not known to be a conservative outlet'.

On the questions over her background – she admits she did not pass the bar exam, though she graduated from Pepperdine University's law school – Zacharia defended social media posts identifying her as an 'attorney' by telling Hannity 'they were retweets'. She has said she called herself a 'lawyer', not an 'attorney', to distinguish herself from a licensed legal adviser. Hannity pushed back: 'Why get into this long-drawn-out definition of the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Because I don't think most people see much of a distinction.'

Her first week in the role

Karoline Leavitt held the press secretary post until August, when she left it and Zacharia took over. Before that, Zacharia advised Trump Media Group – the company behind Truth Social – and spent a short period as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump said he would let Zacharia decide whether to stay, saying 'Maybe it's not for her' and adding that he wanted her 'to be happy'.