‘My president ... excuse me, my husband’: Trump’s new spinner gets off to a rocky start

October 14, 2026 — 6:03am

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Donald Trump’s new press secretary made a less-than-stellar debut on Tuesday, reading awkwardly from a prepared script and mangling some sentences – while taking questions from just three reporters.

Katie Zacharia was visibly nervous on her first outing as Karoline Leavitt’s replacement in a role known for its pressure and extreme public scrutiny.

She read an eight-minute statement about how honoured she was to work for the president. “I have wanted to work for him for a very long time,” she said.

Zacharia recounted Trump’s midterm election blitz through Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Alaska, and boasted that Americans were lining up and filling arenas to support Trump and Republicans – in a speech some observers thought was dangerously close to political campaigning from the White House podium.

The conservative commentator is no stranger to the cameras: she appeared frequently on right-wing networks........

© The Age