Trump says he asked Katie Zacharia if she still wants to be press secretary: 'If I were you, I would reconsider'

Trump says he asked Katie Zacharia if she still wants to be press secretary: 'If I were you, I would reconsider' Katie Zacharia. Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images President Donald Trump said Friday that he told his embattled White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, to reconsider taking on the high-profile job.Shortly after his statements, The New York Times, citing three unnamed people familiar with the matter, reported that Zacharia had been fired after less than a week in the role."I said to Katie just two minutes ago, I said, 'Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want,'" Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that Zacharia responded that the job is "a lot tougher" than she thought."I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider,'" Trump said.Zacharia, a conservative commentator who has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer, made her White House press briefing debut on Tuesday and quickly came under intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.On Thursday, Zacharia said she took the bar exam but failed, and never retook it.Trump told reporters on Friday that Zacharia had been treated "very badly" and "very unfairly" by the media."She's been treated very rough, and she's a nice person, very nice person," the president said. "I've watched her for years on television, but I said, 'Is this for you, Katie? Because, honestly, you don't need this.'""She's been treated, I would say, very nastily," he said. 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. Donald Trump White House