White House press secretary Katie Zacharia already knows which Hollywood star she’d like to see impersonate her on “Saturday Night Live,” and her choice has a very familiar connection to the show.
“Maybe a Scarlett Johansson-type character,” Zacharia suggested to conservative commentator Jack Posobiec during an interview.
Johansson wouldn’t be a newcomer to the NBC comedy series. She’s appeared as a host and guest on multiple occasions, while her husband, Colin Jost, has spent more than 20 years on the show’s writing staff and currently shares the “Weekend Update” desk.
Zacharia’s first week in the Trump administration could provide the comedians with plenty of inspiration, particularly after her introduction to the White House press corps Tuesday.
Her inaugural briefing lasted just 14 minutes, but her apparent uneasiness in front of reporters attracted attention and prompted speculation about whether “SNL” would quickly turn the appearance into a sketch.
The program has made a habit of impersonating President Donald Trump and figures from his administration, including Zacharia’s predecessor, Karoline Leavitt.
Zacharia anticipates becoming another target, although she isn’t particularly interested in watching the results.
🪖Seventeen battle-tested candidates are ready to strike a decisive blow to the Democrat Machine — but they urgently need resources. 🪖 Join the grassroots push to save the House Majority and back them today! ➡️➡️➡️ Make a 17X impact!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Asked whether she’d tune in for a possible impersonation, she answered that she was “not watching anything right now.”
“I do not want to see any of the other X or Instagram or TV right now,” she told Posobiec.
Beyond the potential comedy material, Zacharia’s arrival has prompted a closer examination of how she has characterized her professional qualifications.
The controversy began with an unusual answer to a reporter’s question about her legal licensing examination.
On two occasions, Zacharia responded, “when I moved to China,” rather than identifying where she had taken the bar exam.
The Wall Street Journal subsequently established that she had attempted California’s examination following law school but had not passed. The report appeared Wednesday evening and identified Pepperdine University as the institution where she earned her law degree.
The distinction mattered because Trump had introduced Zacharia as an attorney, a description she had also used when discussing her own professional background.
Zacharia maintained that her intended career in China did not depend on passing a licensing examination in California.
She had arranged to move overseas after spending an extended period separated from her husband, with the couple eager to finally live together following their long-distance relationship.
The excitement surrounding her marriage, she explained, had left her preoccupied even though she had already committed to taking the test.
“I had already pre-registered to take the bar, and I didn’t want to withdraw from that,” Zacharia recalled.
Her eventual employment was with Zhong Lun Law Firm, where she worked in the international division. She viewed her Pepperdine education as sufficient for the position.
“I had enough credentials, which was my law degree, to be able to be in this practice,” she maintained.
She also dismissed the examination outcome as “somewhat inconsequential,” arguing that a California license would not have been necessary for her work abroad.
The original question had come while Zacharia was accompanying Trump near Marine One, and she later disputed how reporters interpreted her answer.
Speaking with the New York Times, she explained that the aircraft’s noise and the distance she kept from journalists to observe presidential protocol had interfered with her ability to hear.
“I assumed the question was, ‘Where were you after law school?’” Zacharia explained.
Her account did not prevent Campaign for Accountability from approaching California’s legal licensing authority. The watchdog lodged a complaint with the State Bar of California on Wednesday concerning Zacharia’s representations of herself as a lawyer.
Zacharia, meanwhile, distinguished her public-facing responsibilities from those of the administration’s attorneys.
“Not hired as White House counsel,” she responded when questioned about whether legal matters would fall within her new duties.
Her focus, she explained, would be communicating Trump’s priorities, dealing with journalists and maintaining working relationships between the administration and the media.
The White House continued defending its new hire after her Friday selection, with communications director Steven Cheung predicting success in the position.
“Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team,” Cheung declared, describing her as “uniquely qualified and whip smart.”
Long before joining the administration, Zacharia had developed her own plan for getting noticed by Trump.
Rather than approaching him directly about the press secretary opening, she reasoned that regularly defending his policies on television could convince him to offer her the position.
“My philosophy is I’m on TV enough where if he sees me and he likes me, then I will be recruited for the job,” Zacharia told Posobiec.
Those appearances were hardly spontaneous. In her previous position advising Trump Media & Technology Group and Truth Social on communications, she kept close track of which issues the president was promoting.
“I tracked every news hit to be in accordance with what policies he was pushing for, particularly on Truth Social,” she recalled.
One example involved Trump’s reception of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a summit in the United States.
Trump’s decision to welcome Xi with an elaborate display of respect had attracted criticism. Zacharia viewed the occasion differently, drawing on her own work experience in China to defend the president’s diplomatic approach during a television appearance.
“I really wanted to give context for how you do business in China and why President Trump’s approach is actually the effective way to get the deal done,” she explained.
Zacharia believed that treating Xi with deference could strengthen Trump’s negotiating position rather than weaken it.
“He’s actually, by showing deference to Xi Jinping, effectuating his ability to get that deal,” she argued.
She maintained that critics were overlooking the significance of such gestures in Chinese business culture and insisted that Trump’s objective remained securing an agreement that served American interests.