Katie Zacharia says Trump never asked about Bar Exam as she defends White House role
WASHINGTON,DC: Katie Zacharia says her failure to pass the bar exam never came up during discussions that led to her appointment as White House press secretary, arguing that the administration hired her to communicate President Donald Trump’s message rather than serve as his legal adviser.
Speaking to Fox News on Friday, October 16, Zacharia addressed questions about her legal qualifications and whether Trump knew she had never qualified to practise law in the United States.
NEW: "Do you wish you would have disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar?" @LawrenceBJones3 puts new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia on the spot, asking whether she regrets not telling President Trump about failing to pass the bar exam. "Those questions weren't asked." Zacharia maintains she was hired to represent the president in the press, not to serve as his legal counsel. | @foxandfriends
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2026
Katie claims Trump never asked about bar exam
Asked about the conversations surrounding her appointment, Zacharia said the issue of passing the bar had not been raised.
“Yeah. Well, Lawrence, those questions weren’t asked,” she said.
“I’m being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel.”
She argued that her role in the administration was to represent Trump in his dealings with the press, rather than provide legal advice to the president.
“The reason that I was hired was to represent the president in the press,” Zacharia said.
She also pushed back against criticism of her first appearance in the White House briefing room.
When asked what she might change if given another opportunity, she did not offer a detailed assessment of her own performance.
Instead, she accused news organizations of directing attention towards her rather than the administration’s work.
She said she was grateful for the opportunity to serve Trump and wanted to concentrate on communicating his policies.
Zacharia also said she was looking forward to the following week’s briefings.
BREAKING: White House press secretary Katie Zacharia responds to questions about whether she still has President Trump's confidence after her first week on the job. "I'm standing here, and I was able to travel with him... and I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me." | @foxandfriends
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2026
Zacharia’s bar exam controversy
The questions about Zacharia’s qualifications escalated after she struggled to answer reporters who asked from where she had passed the bar exam.
During an exchange with Trump earlier in the week, she responded, “I went to China” further raising eyebrows.
Zacharia later confirmed that she had taken California’s bar examination in 2011 after graduating from Pepperdine University’s law school but had not passed.
She said she never retook it because she expected to move to China with her husband and believed she would not need the qualification for her planned work there.
Zacharia has used the word “lawyer” to describe herself, while Trump referred to her as an attorney when announcing her appointment.
She has maintained that she was careful about how she represented her background and disputed claims that she presented herself as a licensed attorney.
