Two White House officials said Zacharia had been “let go” and was transitioning out of the position.
Her departure leaves Trump without a key spokesperson less than three weeks before the November midterm elections, as he seeks to promote his administration’s record and help fellow Republicans retain control of Congress.
Trump told reporters earlier on Friday that he had asked Zacharia to reconsider whether she wanted to continue in the role after facing difficult media coverage during her first few days.
“I told her: ‘I think you're better off being happy, and I'm not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.’ There's nothing easy about this stuff,” Trump said as he left the White House for a weekend trip.
He added that he had advised her to think about whether she wanted to remain in the position and said he planned to revisit the conversation later.
Zacharia began the job on Monday and held her first White House press briefing the following day. She said she had received a call about the position on October 7 and was offered the role a week earlier to succeed Karoline Leavitt.
Questions about her professional background emerged soon after her appointment, particularly her claims of having practised law.
“I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,” Zacharia said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
However, records reviewed by Reuters did not show that the Pepperdine University law school graduate was registered as an attorney or admitted to the bar in any US state or the District of Columbia.
During an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Zacharia said she had not passed the bar exam. Law school graduates in the United States must be admitted to a state bar to practise law legally.
Zacharia and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on her departure.
Earlier on Friday, Zacharia had told reporters at the White House that she looked forward to working with the press.
Trump appointed her after expressing concerns about media coverage of his administration, according to two people familiar with the discussions. He wanted a spokesperson who could more effectively communicate his administration’s achievements, they said.
Speaking to Fox News by phone on Friday, Trump said he was in no hurry to appoint a replacement.
Zacharia’s departure is believed to mark the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary in history.
Anthony Scaramucci, who served as White House communications director for 10 days during Trump’s first administration, commented on her departure on X.
“Records are made to be broken,” he wrote. “But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.”
