Zacharia leaves White House post; Cheung floats Minaj

In their own words

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Timeline

1. 2026-08-12

   On Aug. 12, Leavitt announced her departure from the press secretary position.

   Sources: The Times of Israel

   Supporting statements

   Leavitt announced her departure from the position on August 12.

2. 2026-08-27

   Leavitt left her post on Aug. 27 after giving birth to her second child.

   Sources: Clarín

   Supporting statements

   Leavitt left her post on August 27 after giving birth to her second child.

3. 2026-10-09

   On Oct. 9, Trump chose Katie Zacharia to succeed Leavitt as White House press secretary.

   Sources: Le Monde · Deutsche Welle

   Supporting statements

   Donald Trump chose Katie Zacharia to be his new spokesperson on Friday, October 9.

   Trump announced that Katie Zacharia would succeed Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.

4. 2026-10-13

   On Oct. 13, Zacharia held her debut briefing, answered questions from three journalists and spoke for about 14 minutes.

   Sources: TASS

   Supporting statements

   Katie Zacharia answered questions from three journalists at her debut briefing.

   The briefing lasted about 14 minutes, including almost eight and a half minutes of introductory remarks.

5. 2026-10-16

   On Oct. 16, Trump said the press secretary job might not be right for Zacharia.

   Sources: BBC News

   Supporting statements

   Trump said the press secretary job might not be right for Zacharia.

6. 2026-10-16

   Zacharia was dismissed on Oct. 16, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by The New York Times.

   Sources: The Hankyoreh (via New York Times) · The Hankyoreh (via Reuters; The New York Times)

   Supporting statements

   Zakaria was dismissed on 16 October, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by the New York Times.

   Katie Zakaria was dismissed as White House spokesperson on 16 October, five days after taking office.

7. 2026-10-25

   On Oct. 25, Cheung wrote on X that he believed the White House had found its new press secretary.

   Sources: Daily Jang

   Supporting statements

   Cheung wrote on X that he believed the White House had found its new press secretary.

   As quoted in Urdu, with a machine translation

   “خواتین و حضرات! میرا خیال ہے کہ ہمیں وائٹ ہاؤس کی نئی پریس سیکریٹری مل گئی ہیں”

   Machine translation: “Ladies and gentlemen! I think we have our new White House press secretary”

   Cheung proposed rapper and singer Nicki Minaj for the White House press secretary post.

8. Bruesewitz asked Minaj’s fans what they thought of her becoming White House press secretary.

   Sources: Der Spiegel · Der Spiegel

   Supporting statements

   Bruesewitz asked Minaj's fans what they think of the idea of her being the spokesperson.

   Bruesewitz asked Minaj's fans what they thought of the idea of her becoming press secretary.

9. 2026-10-26

   Reported on Oct. 26, Der Spiegel judged the prospect of Minaj becoming the president’s spokesperson rather unlikely.

   Sources: Der Spiegel · Der Spiegel

   Supporting statements

   The article judges that Minaj becoming Trump's spokesperson is rather unlikely.

   It is rather unlikely Minaj will become the US president's spokesperson.

10. 2026-10-27

    Reported on Oct. 27, The Hankyoreh said Minaj’s Polymarket odds of becoming the next White House spokesperson briefly reached 8%.

    Sources: The Hankyoreh

    Supporting statements

    Minaj's odds of becoming the next White House spokesperson briefly rose to 8% on Polymarket.

Coverage

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More detail

Written by our automated pipeline from the statements in the coverage; each point lists the statements it rests on.