Katie Zacharia out as White House press secretary after five days

What Trump said: "She's been treated, I would say pretty nastily, and 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 said Friday, according to NBC News, adding, "I'm going to let her make that decision." He told reporters "Maybe it's not for her," Fox News reported, and when asked whether he had fired her, said, "No no. I want her to have a good life." AP quoted him as saying, "I told her, 'I think you're better off being happy,'" and that he would make a final determination later.

How the week unfolded: Trump announced Zacharia on Truth Social on Friday, Oct. 9, calling her "a loyal and brilliant supporter"; she had been a senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group and, earlier this year, spent about six weeks as a Homeland Security spokesperson, NBC News and Fox News reported. She started Monday, Oct. 12. Her first briefing on Tuesday lasted about 14 minutes and she took three questions, according to Fox News; NBC said she could not answer whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. In that briefing she announced Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as ambassador to Greece, and Guilfoyle said within hours she would step down. On Wednesday, communications director Steven Cheung called her "uniquely qualified," Fox News reported. By Thursday, a senior administration official confirmed she had not passed the California bar exam, a fact first reported by The Wall Street Journal, and she told Fox News host Sean Hannity that she never obtained a U.S. law license, though Trump had described her as an attorney.

How outlets framed it: The Guardian's headline, citing the Times, said Zacharia was "fired." Fox News said she was "dropped" and "transitioning out," while stressing Trump's comment that the media had "brutalized" her. NBC News said she was "out" and noted her tenure was shorter than Anthony Scaramucci's 11 days as White House communications director in 2017. Trump himself framed it as her choice. Earlier this week, the nonpartisan watchdog Campaign for Accountability asked the State Bar of California to examine whether she broke the law by calling herself a lawyer, NBC News reported.

What remains unknown: Who will replace her, and whether the White House will describe her exit as a firing or a resignation. As of this writing, it had not issued an on-record statement, and the outcome of the State Bar complaint is not known. Zacharia had not publicly commented on her departure in the reporting cited here.

Zacharia's exit is based on unnamed officials: a senior administration official, an administration official and a source familiar with the decision told NBC News, and a senior White House official told Fox News she is "transitioning out." The Guardian cited a New York Times report that she was fired. President Trump said on camera he had not fired her. As of this writing the White House had not issued an on-record statement or named a successor. Both photos are official White House photos from her Oct. 13 briefing.