Prediction market users are already betting on how long Trump's new press secretary will last

Prediction market users are already betting on how long Trump's new press secretary will last White House press secretary Katie Zacharia during her inaugural press briefing on Tuesday. Win McNamee/Getty Images President Donald Trump's new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, got off to a somewhat rocky start with her 14-minute debut media briefing on Tuesday.And now bettors on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are putting money down on how long the conservative commentator will last in the high-profile job.On Kalshi, bettors gave Zacharia a 38% chance of being out as White House press secretary before January 1 in a wager that had more than $313,000 in trading volume as of early afternoon Wednesday.Kalshi traders were more bearish over the longer term, putting the chance of Zacharia's departure before July 1 at 60% and before July 1, 2028 at 96%.The wager's trading volume indicated meaningful interest in the tenure of the newly appointed press secretary, though it remained well below Kalshi's biggest political markets. A market on whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth will be out of a job, for example, had drawn more than $1.4 million in volume.Polymarket's site has a similar market about Zacharia, asking whether she would be out as press secretary by the end of the year or by the end of October.Bettors gave a 38% chance of an announcement by October 31 and a 51% chance by December 31.When asked for comment on Wednesday, White House communications director Steven Cheung told Business Insider: "Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team.""She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his Administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as Press Secretary," Cheung said. Beyond the hiccups in her first press briefing, Zacharia — who has repeatedly described herself as an attorney — faced scrutiny over her legal qualifications. When asked what state she passed the bar exam in, Zacharia told reporters, "When I moved to China."State bar exams are generally administered in person within the jurisdiction.Zacharia told Business Insider in a statement Tuesday that she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials," without detailing where she may have passed the bar.The State Bar of California told Business Insider it didn't have any records showing that Zacharia, who has lived and worked in the state, was ever licensed to practice law there.A spokesperson said, "The State Bar of California has no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black having been licensed to practice law in California." Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Natalie is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Business News team covering the AI and data center boom.She was previously on BI's Legal Affairs team, where she handled major cases coming out of state and federal court, as well as bankruptcy. Her coverage often focused on stories at the intersection of law, business, politics, and technology. Natalie has covered Donald Trump’s criminal and civil cases, the wave of lawsuits against the second Trump administration, the indictment and criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the legal battles facing Elon Musk and his companies. Natalie came to Business Insider in June 2021 as a breaking news reporter, focusing on the most interesting angles on the day's trending news. Natalie largely drove BI’s coverage around the fatal “Rust” shooting involving Alec Baldwin and the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito.Prior to joining BI, Natalie worked for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and The Brooklyn Paper. She has an extensive background covering crime and courts. During her more than 12-year journalism career, she did a stint covering the police beat out of the New York Police Department's headquarters. Natalie, a Brooklyn native, graduated from Brooklyn College in 2012 with a degree in journalism. Trump