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Trump’s new press secretary faces first major test as White House briefing room enters new era

Trump’s new press secretary faces first major test as White House briefing room enters new era

The White House is set to end a weeks-long stretch without a permanent press secretary at the podium Tuesday when Katie Zacharia makes her briefing room debut, succeeding Karoline Leavitt after a shake-up in President Donald Trump’s communications team. “I am pleased to announce that Katie Zacharia will be beginning her term as Press Secretary tomorrow, Columbus Day, and will be doing an introductory News Conference on Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. from the Press Briefing Room in the White House. Katie has been with me, in spirit, from the very beginning, and will do a fantastic job!” Trump said on Truth Social Sunday. Zacharia, an attorney and television commentator, served as senior communications adviser to Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the president’s social media platform, Truth Social. Her appointment follows Leavitt’s departure from the White House in August. During his first administration, President Donald Trump had four White House press secretaries: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany. TRUMP NAMES LEAVITT SUCCESSOR AFTER WEEKS OF SPECULATION — AND SHE’S NO STRANGER TO MAGA Leavitt served as the first press secretary of Trump’s second administration for 19 months before leaving the role on Aug. 27. Zacharia previously served as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. She appeared on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday in her new role, touting President Donald Trump’s newly announced deal with Russia to supply more than 1.8 million tons of diesel fuel to U.S. and global markets in a bid to lower fuel and grocery costs. “President Trump has heard people have been frustrated with the gas prices. People are frustrated with the increasing grocery prices. And he is delivering what he always does, which are solutions,” Zacharia said. KATIE ZACHARIA HITS GROUND RUNNING, PROMISES TRUMP DIESEL DEAL DELIVERS CHEAPER GAS FOR AMERICANS She celebrated the appointment in a post on X Friday, thanking Trump for what she called the “distinguished privilege” of serving as White House press secretary. “Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime,” Zacharia wrote. “President Trump has shown America that we can be great again, and he works to effectuate that greatness every single day. His confidence is a true privilege, and his leadership is a blessing to this country.” “The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day,” she wrote. “I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out,” she added. She also acknowledged the expectations that come with succeeding Leavitt. KAROLINE LEAVITT JOINS FOX NEWS AS CONTRIBUTOR AFTER LEAVING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY ROLE “Following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting,” Zacharia wrote. Since Leavitt’s departure, the White House has held a limited number of press briefings and news conferences led by senior administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche. The White House adopted a rotating lineup of top Trump administration officials to lead press briefings while Leavitt was on maternity leave over the summer. “Katie has been an effective champion of MAGA movement and America First policies – and most importantly clearly has [the] trust of President Trump,” former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Anyone who has not met her yet will quickly see that she is a genuinely kind person who will work well with the press corps, unlike the first press secretary who came across as an angry leprechaun at times,” Spicer added, poking fun at himself.

Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation

Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell 0K allegation

U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle may soon be the target of a Senate investigation following a bombshell report accusing her of influence peddling. Guilfoyle is under fire following a Wall Street Journal report that alleged, before she was confirmed as ambassador to Greece, she pushed a top donor to President Donald Trump to clear $100,000 in personal credit card debt. And a top Senate Republican believes that following that report, an investigation may soon follow. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that “what we’ve seen in the reports is very troubling, it’s concerning.” TRUMP JR UNDER SCRUTINY FROM OWN PARTY OVER PUTIN-LINKED OLIGARCH’S LAVISH GIFT “And I’m sure there’s gonna be an investigation,” Barrasso said. “I would assume the State Department would be conducting that,” he continued. “I know the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have oversight and look into that, as well. But I think the public has a right to know what was found, and it is quite a bit of concern.” Fox News Digital reached out for comment on a possible investigation to the State Department and Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. DONALD TRUMP JR MARRIES BETTINA ANDERSON AHEAD OF BAHAMAS WEDDING CELEBRATION Guilfoyle, who was recently engaged to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. until the two publicly split in 2024, was confirmed by the Senate last year for the post in Athens. Barrasso’s prediction comes as allegations surrounding Guilfoyle and her time in Athens mount, and as speculation that her time in the role may be coming to an end. The State Department’s Office of Inspector General, the watchdog for the agency, has already opened a probe into Guilfoyle for previous alleged misconduct. The Daily Mail reported that an investigation was already underway into Guilfoyle’s luxury lifestyle in Greece that included allegations of mistreatment of staff, substance abuse, close ties to an energy and construction company and the improper acceptance of gifts. FORMER USCIS OFFICIAL, ACCOMPLICE CHARGED IN ALLEGED $960K CITIZENSHIP BRIBERY SCHEME The latest claim against her is that she allegedly solicited Trump donor Eric Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express bill directly to the credit card company, urged him not to leave a paper trail and offered to help him gain access to top administration officials in exchange. Deters said he never made the payment. In the wake of that report, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are said to be “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s alleged conduct and are weighing her removal, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a senior U.S. official. Rubio fired back shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported the allegations, saying, “You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something, and you reported it, it’s the gospel.” “It’s not the gospel,” Rubio said. “It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things.”

Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump

Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump

Sen. Cory Booker’s Republican Senate challenger had a blunt message for President Donald Trump about the war in Iran during the pair’s recent debate: ” Finish it.” The advice drew applause during Thursday’s forum — and a ” Wow” from Booker, who then blasted former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy’s remarks as the kind of ” Yahoo” foreign policy that has dragged the United States into costly wars in the Middle East. New Jersey is a blue state that has trended redder in recent years, with President Donald Trump flipping key areas in 2024. However, 1972 was the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in the state, when Sen. Clifford Case was re-elected. Sens. Nick Brady in 1982 and Jeff Chiesa in 2013 later served brief, appointed terms. Murphy, an attorney from the Pine Barrens, earned loud applause for his response to a question about Iran when asked what he would tell Trump if the president called him for advice on the conflict. “Finish that war in a positive manner,” Murphy replied firmly. “We can’t wait halfway through and decide we don’t want to do this anymore. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a radical terrorist organization that has deprived the Iranian people, the Persian people, of their history and of a decent life.” ‘FINISH THE DAMN JOB’: HAGERTY TELLS ‘RUTHLESS PODCAST’ THAT TRUMP WILL COMPLETE IRAN MISSION The exchange highlighted the candidates’ opposing approaches to the conflict, with Murphy defending Trump’s military campaign and Booker warning against another prolonged American war in the Middle East. As Murphy continued, the broadcast’s split-screen showed Booker briefly looking down and shaking his head before pursing his lips for the rest of Murphy’s response and raising his eyebrows at one point. LAWMAKER’S STUNNED FACE AND OTHER VIRAL MOMENTS CAP ROUGH WEEK FOR POLITICAL CLASS “Four decades is enough. The Iranian people have suffered enough,” Murphy began to conclude. “And I would say, ‘Mr. President, put your cowboy hat on and get out there and kick some a–, and get this done and done right’,” Murphy said. “Wow,” Booker mouthed as moderator David Wildstein gestured toward the Democrat and said it appeared he wanted to respond. BOOKER SLAMS TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL AS AN ‘ABJECT SURRENDER,’ LABELS HIM THE ‘BIGGEST LOSER’ WITH ‘EGG ON HIS FACE’ “Honestly,” Booker began. “This is the kind of ‘Yahoo’ foreign policy that has mired us in Middle East war after Middle East war — with false bravado leaders saying we’re just going to go in there and kick ass. Well, you know what that’s done to the treasury of our country?” Booker replied. When asked the same question as Murphy, Booker joked that Wildstein was asking him about “a guy calling me for advice who has literally said ‘I know more than my generals’.” But the former Newark mayor entertained the hypothetical, saying he and the rest of New Jersey have known Trump for years because he “bankrupted our casinos” — referring to the president’s former Atlantic City casino businesses. He accused Trump of frequently ignoring advice, claiming advisers had to “jangle keys” to keep him on topic during a meeting about the trans-Hudson rail tunnel project spearheaded by Booker and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Murphy also received attention for his comments during the debate on illegal immigration. He recounted leaving a campaign event in Washington, N.J., and looking across at a home where a child was allegedly abducted and raped by Guatemalan illegal immigrant Lester Noe Perez-Amador — whom the Biden administration previously released after a Texas county notified ICE that it had taken him into custody, according to WRNJ. Besides putting a Republican running for a long-held blue seat on the social media radar, the exchange over Iran underscored sharp divisions across party lines and within the Republican Party over Trump’s military campaign and how it should end.

Media narrative predicting blue wave in key battleground state not meshing with local Republicans: ‘Fired up’

Media narrative predicting blue wave in key battleground state not meshing with local Republicans: ‘Fired up’

DAVENPORT, Iowa — As Iowa emerges as one of the most critical states in the midterm election in both House and Senate races, Fox News Digital spoke with local Republican candidates about what the media is getting right and wrong on the ground in the Hawkeye State. As local conservatives gathered at a Scott County Republican Party event near downtown Davenport in early October to watch the first gubernatorial debate, a month out from the consequential midterm election, Fox News Digital was there asking if the media narrative was accurate that Iowa was primed for a “blue wave” amid concerns about President Donald Trump’s economy, gas prices, and the war in Iran. Greg Guy, running as a Republican for treasurer in Scott County, acknowledged that Iowans are “concerned” about the price of gas, but believes they understand that the surge in cost is likely temporary after the war in Iran winds down. “Surprisingly not,” Guy said when asked if he thinks a blue wave is imminent in Iowa based on the reactions he gets when he knocks on doors in the county telling voters about his campaign, which he says is focused on doing “what’s right” and “taking care” of the community. DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING. HERE ARE 3 FORCES THAT COULD STOP IT “My neighbor is one of the big people in charge of the canvassing for the Democrat Party. I don’t see where they’re excited to vote,” Guy said. “I mean, if I talk to a hundred doors and 30 to 40% will open up, I might get one out of 40. That’s a hater, and then I’ll just tell them, hey, I know you’re not going to vote for me, but when I’m treasurer, and you have a problem, you can still call me. They don’t know what to do because they’re wound up in the hate. But otherwise, I don’t think there’s a whole lot of belief that the Democrat Party can do anything to fix our economy.” Davenport, a town of about 100,000 people in southeast Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River, stands out as a Democratic-leaning urban pocket in an increasingly Republican Iowa. President Trump carried Scott County by roughly four points in 2024, 51% to 47%, but former Vice President Kamala Harris won Davenport’s congressional district precincts overall, reflecting the city’s more competitive and complex political profile. Trump won Iowa by about 13 points in 2024, and Republicans control the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature. But Scott County’s mix of urban Democrats, suburban swing voters and conservative rural communities makes it a key test of whether the GOP’s statewide strength can overcome Democratic resilience in eastern Iowa. One of the critical questions is whether conservative Iowans are frustrated enough with Republicans to vote Democrats back into power. “No, not at all,” Cynthia Mensendick, a registered nurse running for election to the Iowa State Senate to represent District 49, said when asked if voters think handing Democrats control of Congress is the “right answer.” “The concern is that there will be a Democrat governor because if you look at any state where a Democrat takes over, they immediately increase spending,” Mensendick said, adding, “I’m not seeing that,” when asked if a “blue wave” was set to occur in Iowa this November. Mensendick, who is running a campaign focused on healthcare and the high cancer rate in Iowa, says one of the top concerns with Republican voters is Iowa turning into Illinois if Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand is elected. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES COME AFTER OCTOBER Republicans are facing an uphill battle in Iowa, where polling shows Democrats have gained momentum in the gubernatorial, Senate and congressional races. Additionally, Republicans are going up against historical headwinds as the party in power heading into the midterms. However, Iowa has shifted more red in recent years, and the Republicans in the room in Scott County remained optimistic. Dillon Fillion, the youngest candidate in Scott County history at 22 years old, told Fox News Digital that Republicans in Iowa and nationwide have a choice between two very different parties at the end of the day. “I think people have got to weigh the options here, they either have an option of voting for socialist candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, who is a pronounced communist and supports all the things that Lenin supports, which led the Soviet Union into the downfall that it went to, or they have the support of supporting Republicans who were actually serious about cutting their taxes, which cut their taxes in 2025 with the One Big Beautiful Bill,” Fillion, running for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 81, said. “And Democrats will continue to lie about that, but again, the Democrats also voted to raise their taxes 60% in 2025, voting against the Big Beautiful Bill.” Kurt Whalen isn’t running for office, but rather serves as the Scott County Iowa GOP Vice Chair, and he told Fox News Digital that while there are many frustrations with the state of affairs from Republicans in the state, he doesn’t think GOP voters will sit on the sidelines with so much at stake. “I think people are still fired up for the Republican cause. I mean, we are a big tent party. There’s people that absolutely love Trump, there’s people that don’t care for him. But the reality is, Trump’s been an overwhelming force for good in our country,” Whalen said. “So, we can haggle about specifics, but I really think the Republican Party will ultimately come home and certainly support the president, and I would certainly encourage them to do that because what other choice do we have? I mean, the other choice is straight up, communist, Marxist, DSA, mask mandates. The Democratic Party in general, if you look at it historically, it has always been for big government against the little guy.”