President Donald Trump’s new press secretary stepped to the podium, the eyes of a packed room of journalists — and many in their audiences — upon her.
asserted
secretary → step → her
She smiled broadly at the sea of faces both probing and friendly.
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She → smile → faces
With that, Katie Zacharia went live and became the official voice of the world’s most powerful person.
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Zacharia → go → person
Fourteen minutes and just three questioners later, she was done.
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she → do → ?
In the aftermath, it was clear that the former Newsmax commentator accomplished at least one thing: She put the “brief” back in briefing.
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She → accomplish → briefing
In her debut Tuesday, Zacharia looked downward and often read directly from a script.
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Zacharia → look → script
She paused and grinned when she uttered the words “Department of War.”
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she → pause → War
She stumbled on a question about her background and mixed up the words “husband” and “president.”
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She → stumble → words
The few questions she took were nonconfrontational and from media outlets that have been sympathetic to the Republican president.
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that → take → president
In short: She made no memorable impression — or at least, to hear some tell it, not the one she likely wanted.
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she → make → it
Trump most frequently serves as his own spokesman.
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Trump → serve → spokesman
And his antagonism toward the media has created a new layer of tension.
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antagonism → create → tension
Zacharia is finding out on day one that she, too, will be under constant watch.
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she → find → watch
Some — including a few of those who have stood in her shoes — didn’t think it went all that well.
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it → include → shoes
In fractured times, in a national media scrum unimaginable just a few decades ago, what is the proper way to approach a job like this?
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way → approach → this
How do you speak effectively when your boss speaks for himself so often that he commandeers the news cycle multiple times a day — and sometimes late into the night — with remarks provocative, unexpected and sometimes incendiary?
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he → speak → remarks
For one, you realize for whom you work: not your audience of millions but your audience of one, and the absolute need for his approval.
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you → realize → approval
“I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people,” Zacharia said.
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Zacharia → get → people
Nowhere did she mention the task of disseminating accurate information to Americans.
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she → mention → Americans
The press secretary role has been many things
Over the nearly 10 decades since former journalist George E. Akerson made his and the office’s debut as Herbert Hoover’s press secretary in 1929, the job has served many purposes: deliverer of information, amplifier of policy, jouster with journalists, protector of the presidential reputation and, sometimes, overlord of obfuscation.
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job → make → obfuscation
Under Trump and his second-term press secretary so far — Karoline Leavitt, who resigned in August — the job has been primarily one of acting as the immovable object against an irresistible, and in Trump’s eyes sometimes treasonous, force.
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job → resign → force
Leavitt got to know this terrain well in her 17-month tenure.
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Leavitt → get → tenure
She took a smiling but combative stance against a press that was increasingly coming under Trump’s criticism for coverage — and was named in at least one lawsuit about White House media access.
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that → take → access
She was not shy about interdicting what she considered media bias.
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she → interdict → what
“What a stupid question,” she said to one reporter at a briefing last year.
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she → say → briefing
Trump, outside the White House on Tuesday shortly after Zacharia’s briefing, praised her debut as “excellent.”
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Trump → praise → debut
She was standing behind him at the time.
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She → stand → time
NOW quoted one unnamed White House official as saying of the performance: “She needs to get much better fast, otherwise she’ll break Scaramucci’s record.”
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she → quote → record
Anthony Scaramucci, an early White House communications director for first-term Trump, lasted 11 days in 2017.
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Scaramucci → last → 2017
Said Scaramucci on X Tuesday afternoon: “I hope she makes it.”
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she → say → it
Joe Biden’s former press secretary, Jen Psaki, now the host of a show on MS NOW, put it more succinctly, posting on X: “Well that briefing was basically an SNL skit….except it wasnt.”
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it → put → X
Talking up Trump but taking few questions
While Zacharia’s performance — and of course, that’s what every briefing is — may have been bumpy to some, it was also mostly content-free except for news she broke about the White House asking U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to quit, which she immediately did.
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she → talk → which
Predictably, also like Leavitt before her, Zacharia spent a great part of her opening monologue praising Trump and giving an “up ‘til now”-style update on his second term’s priorities and accomplishments so far.
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Zacharia → spend → priorities
Talking points included a “booming economy,” “his historic boom in energy production” and “a great relationship with Venezuela.”
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points → include → Venezuela
She was also fond of superlatives, a trait that likely will resonate with a president whose remarks are often equally if not more expansive: “President Trump is working to secure the Western Hemisphere for centuries to come.”
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Trump → resonate → centuries
When it came to questions, though, she was downright parsimonious.
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she → come → questions
She allowed three questioners, then answered an additional one as she prepared to depart.
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she → allow → one
The three called on during the briefing were Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail, all of which have been friendly to Trump in varying degrees during periods of his two terms.
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all → call → terms
And she said she would continue Leavitt’s policy of bringing “new media” in — which has often meant outlets more sympathetic to Trump.
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which → say → Trump
“We love new media and we want to be able to embrace it,” she said.
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she → love → it
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
