White House press secretary Katie Zacharia out after five tumultuous days on the job

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out after one tumultuous week on the job, according to multiple news reports Friday. 

Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump defended her, saying that the media had treated her unfairly, but said he would leave the decision about her professional future to her. But by the afternoon, essentially every news outlet in the White House press corps was reporting her departure, based on sources.

Zacharia debuted as press secretary on Tuesday morning, with a brief appearance before reporters in which she fielded a handful of questions, before deferring to the president, who spoke to the press an hour later. She has since faced a stream of negative press, largely related to her legal credentials. She received a law degree from Pepperdine University, but never passed the bar exam.

"Katie's been treated very badly by the media," Trump told reporters. "And I just spoke to her about it. I said 'Katie, is this for you?'"

"You don't need this. You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he went on, but when pressed about whether Zacharia would continue in the role, Trump merely said, "I'm gonna let her make that decision."

Speculation has abounded about her professional fate in recent days, with White House officials speaking anonymously to political outlets to criticize her performance. She also recently appeared on Fox News, facing tough interviews from the normally GOP-friendly network. 

Just the News has reached out to Zacharia for comment.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.