Trump's new press secretary holds unusually brief first briefing

The first question posed to Zacharia came three weeks before the midterm election cycle. A reporter asked directly: "Is your job just to speak about White House matters, or is it to make things less tough for Republicans in the midterms?" The timing was pointed—Trump himself had said the midterms would be 'very tough for Republicans.'

As press secretary, Zacharia's work would extend what she had already been doing outside government. "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. Trump is "his own best spokesperson" and would lead the way in communicating his accomplishments, according to Zacharia.

A reporter asked directly whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, but the press secretary deferred, saying she would need to follow up on the matter.

The press briefing took only three questions total—one from new media and two from reporters in the room. Zacharia cited the president leaving the White House in 45 minutes as the reason to wrap up. Collins, who attended the briefing, found the format jarring: "It was kind of bizarre because it was a press briefing, but there was only two questions that were taken by the new press secretary. I'm not really sure, Wolf, that I've ever been to a press briefing where there were only three questions in the briefing. It was quite unusual, especially for the first press briefing."

The briefing had been widely announced and promoted beforehand by the White House. Zacharia had read lengthy opening remarks before taking questions—standard practice for such events. As she closed her binder to end the session, Collins initially thought the briefing could not possibly be over.

Guilfoyle denied the allegations through her attorneys. Guilfoyle, through her attorneys, denied accusations that she had sought to get Trump donors to fund her in exchange for access to administration officials. The Wall Street Journal had reported damaging allegations that Guilfoyle sought to obtain Trump donor funds in exchange for access to administration officials; Guilfoyle denied the allegations through her attorneys. The announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that made damning allegations against Guilfoyle, who was accused of trying to get Trump donors to fund her in exchange for giving access to administration officials. Guilfoyle denied the allegations through her attorneys.

The news broke at the briefing itself, making it one of the few substantive developments to emerge from the event.

Zacharia was announced as the new press secretary only days before her briefing—a sudden move. She replaced Caroline Leavitt, who announced over the summer that she was stepping down to spend more time with her family. The administration had struggled to find a replacement. Trump's spokesperson role is widely described as a difficult job because Trump often speaks for himself, and Zacharia had previously worked for Trump Media and had a brief stint at the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump met with Zacharia in the Oval Office last week and announced she would take the job. Her first briefing was scheduled for the following day.

Most questions at the briefing came from reporters Collins characterized as "basically sympathetic, supportive of the Trump administration."

Mark Preston, CNN's senior political analyst, noted that this language and framing contrasted sharply with what the traditional press secretary role has been. Preston pointed out that Zacharia appears focused on speaking to "an audience of one"—President Trump himself—rather than the American public. The traditional mandate of the press secretary position differs substantially, Preston observed: "The job of the press secretary is to speak on behalf of the United States. The job of the press secretary is to calm the fears of whatever's happening around the country, around the world."

Joe Lockhart, who served as White House press secretary under President Clinton, called the briefing format "a little bizarre," describing it as a rushed event: "It was a little bizarre, to rush her out there and then rush her out of the room. I'm not sure what they were hoping to accomplish."

Collins recalled her seven years as a CNN White House correspondent covering press briefings. She remembered that press secretaries like Lockhart were "available" and "ready to answer questions," and she and other journalists assumed they "were speaking not just for the president, but for the entire U.S. government," answering questions on national security, foreign policy, and domestic issues.

Lockhart assessed that the strategy likely undermined confidence in Zacharia's ability to go forward.

"There is no way for her to be ready to do this job even under the way Trump defines the job," Lockhart contended. "There is no way for her to be ready to do this job even under the way Trump defines the job," he continued. "I spent a couple of months just going and learning the intricacies of all of our foreign policy. That podium is supposed to be an instrument of American foreign policy." When asked a foreign policy question at her briefing, Zacharia simply answered, "I don't know."

Lockhart outlined the traditional press secretary role: someone who works for the president while also serving "as a voice for the American people to let them know what the U.S. government is doing, what the U.S. government is failing at and trying to do better." By that definition, he said, Zacharia "doesn't have the qualifications to do the job."

But the Trump administration, Lockhart argued, operates from a different understanding entirely. "They view it as a place for propaganda, a place for amplifying whatever Trump says, even when they know it's not true," Lockhart said. People around Trump know when he is not telling the truth but amplify it anyway, according to Lockhart. He characterized this approach as propaganda—"no other word for it."

Now, Collins noted, Zacharia speaks on behalf of the free world from the White House podium.

Preston suggested that Zacharia's primary audience is not the American public or the world, but Trump himself. "She's speaking to an audience of one, and that's Donald Trump," Lockhart concluded. "Because, as we know from past press secretaries, that if you were to go out and you were to say something that he didn't like, he would be raging, behind the door." This dynamic means press secretaries' primary concern becomes satisfying Trump rather than informing the public.

The reality of this relationship, Preston implied, shapes everything a press secretary does or says in the Trump administration.

Preston warned that Zacharia's past will shape her tenure, saying: "She does have a background. Your past does follow you." "For her to establish any credibility going forward, she's going to have to earn that from the podium, and she doesn't have that foundation," Preston said, though he acknowledged "there still is time" for her to build it. "And for her to at least establish any credibility going forward for however long she stays in this job, she's going to have to earn that from the podium. She doesn't have that. She certainly didn't show that today."

Though Preston noted "there still is time," he added a caveat: "But again, she has a history. And you have to think that history in itself is going to repeat itself." Her background, he suggested, will likely continue to define her tenure.