White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia faces scrutiny over credentials

An inaugural, albeit short, White House press briefing offered a glimpse into how Donald Trump's latest press secretary, Katie Zacharia, will approach the notoriously difficult role.

The 41-year-old spent much of the 14-minute appearance reading from prepared remarks before taking just three questions, all from conservative-leaning outlets.

Ms Zacharia's debut comes after the departure of Karoline Leavitt, who became known for her combative and high-profile briefing style.

Here are the key moments.

Ms Zacharia, a conservative commentator named to the role on Friday, opened her first session by reading, at a notably slow pace, a lengthy list of what she described as achievements made by the "energetic" US president, Mr Trump.

She highlighted Trump's recent campaign rallies and his policies on energy, tariffs, immigration and more since he returned to office.

"Everyday Americans are showing up in droves to attend rallies because of President Trump's America-first agenda of lower taxes, higher wages and one of my favourites, secure borders," Ms Zacharia said.

"Attendance is at record highs as enthusiastic and hardworking Americans are lining up and packing arenas to support President Trump and Republicans.

"It's not hard to see why. President Trump is fighting and delivering for American workers every minute of every day."

Typically, a lengthy question-and-answer session follows a press secretary's opening remarks, often spanning dozens of questions from reporters.

But Ms Zacharia took questions from just three reporters, starting with right-wing website Breitbart, an outlet frequently accused of misinformation.

The next questions went to Fox News and the Daily Mail.

When asked by Fox whether the administration had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, Ms Zacharia was unable to provide an answer.

"I'll have to get back to you on that," she said.

Ms Zacharia raised eyebrows when she was asked about her legal qualifications on the White House South Lawn alongside Mr Trump after the briefing.

"What state did she pass the bar exam in? You said she is an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? Which state?" the reporter asked.

Mr Trump turned to Ms Zacharia and repeated the question.

"When I moved to China," she answered.

A White House official later did not directly answer questions about whether Ms Zacharia had passed a US bar exam, which is required in the US to practise law.

Her LinkedIn profile said she worked as an associate in the International Practice Team at Zhong Lun law firm in Beijing from 2011 to 2013, however non-citizens cannot sit China's national bar exam and cannot engage in legal practice involving Chinese law.

Pepperdine University confirmed Ms Zacharia graduated from its law school in 2011, but there has been no confirmation so far she passed the California bar exam.

The briefing drew criticism from several former White House officials, who questioned both its length and Ms Zacharia's performance.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci joked on X: "The clock is running. Thus far 1/11th of a Scaramucci."

Mr Scaramucci famously lasted 11 days in the role during Mr Trump's first administration.

Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy White House press secretary during Mr Trump's first term, described the debut as "rather underwhelming".

"Three questions, including one from the new media seat, and a heavy reliance on her notes. Not exactly in command of the briefing room," Ms Matthews wrote on X.

Former Clinton administration press secretary Joe Lockhart told CNN it was "a little bizarre" to usher Ms Zacharia into the briefing room for such a short appearance.

"I'm not sure what they were hoping to accomplish, but I don't think they built any confidence in her ability to go forward," he said.

Meanwhile, former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki described the briefing on X as "basically an SNL skit … except it wasn't".

One of the lighter moments came when Ms Zacharia accidentally referred to her husband as "my president" while discussing her family.

"The idea of not spending evenings with my kids is completely unacceptable. So my president, excuse me, my husband — that's a good one," she said.

Speaking to reporters before his trip to Alaska, Trump praised his new press secretary's performance.

"I thought she did excellent. She did very good," he said.

The White House also issued a statement.

"Today, Katie Zacharia delivered a commanding inaugural press briefing as the 37th White House Press Secretary," the White House statement read.

"The briefing, which generated wall-to-wall coverage, served as a strong introduction to her tenure and highlighted the Trump Administration's record of delivering historic successes for the American people."