Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday that Katie Zacharia would become the next White House press secretary immediately sparked curiosity about the conservative commentator chosen to succeed Karoline Leavitt.

At 42, Zacharia is an attorney and familiar face on Fox News and Newsmax, where she has built a reputation for her forceful delivery and firmly conservative political views.

She is married to Hollywood producer Tyler Zacharia, and the couple have four children.

Zacharia’s political career began during college, when she took on an internship with the Republican National Committee.

She studied at Pepperdine University’s Seaver College and later attended the Caruso School of Law. After completing her education, she moved into corporate law and political advocacy.

Her early professional experience included a role in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the George W. Bush administration. She also spent three years in China serving as outside counsel for the World Bank.

Beyond government and legal work, Zacharia has become a regular presence on cable news. As a prime-time contributor for Newsmax and Fox News, she has frequently weighed in on some of the most contentious issues in American politics.

Her latest appointment follows a brief and turbulent stint at the Department of Homeland Security, where she served as a spokeswoman for only six weeks before leaving the position in March.

Zacharia had taken over from Tricia McLaughlin in February, becoming the public face of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The role ended almost as quickly as it began. Her departure was surrounded by controversy, including reports that her close relationship with Corey Lewandowski, an adviser to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her rumored partner, had contributed to her exit.

Zacharia rejected that explanation, saying instead that the demands of commuting between Washington and her California home had placed too much strain on her family.

Following her time at DHS, she worked as a communications adviser for Trump Media and Technology Group, the company behind the Truth Social platform.

Tyler Zacharia’s producing credits include films such as The Irishman, Countdown, The Starling, The Desperate Hour and Homestead, among other projects.

Although Zacharia regularly shares polished glimpses of her professional and personal style with more than 42,000 Instagram followers, she keeps her family life largely private. Her children do not appear on her social media accounts.

She has also spoken openly about the criticism she receives for her support of Trump and her involvement in conservative politics.

“Being in the world of politics, whether directly or adjacent, is BRUTAL and I personally take DAILY heat for it,” she wrote in an Instagram post in September.

She went on to explain that she tries to ‘keep her family away from the flame,’ but gushed over how ‘proud’ she was of her husband’s work.

She also opened up about being ‘bullied’ by people ‘on the left’ as ‘a native Californian and lifelong conservative in this deep-blue state’ in an essay written for the New York Post in February. 

She explained in the essay that when she visited her local cardio kickboxing gym wearing a Trump hat it ‘triggered an unhinged meltdown.’

‘One woman in the back didn’t confront me directly. Instead, she rudely interrupted the instructor mid-routine, turned the class into chaos, harassed the teacher to force me to remove my hat or face the wall so she wouldn’t have to see it, killed the entire vibe, and then stormed out like a petulant child,’ she wrote.

‘This wasn’t over threats or actual disruption – it was over a hat symbolizing my pride in helping re-elect the greatest president in US history, Donald J. Trump.’

She noted that while the instructor didn’t force her to remove the hat, ‘two additional liberal women wrote emails and waged online smear campaigns behind the scenes, leading to the owner of the gym to ask me not to wear my hat.’

‘I responded that I would never take my Trump hat off to appease the left,’ she continued.

‘This is raw, unfiltered intolerance. Freedom of speech doesn’t evaporate at the gym door.

‘The First Amendment has no “discomfort” clause. A Team Trump or MAGA hat isn’t obscenity or hate speech – it is political expression supporting our sitting president.

‘This isn’t about a hat. It’s about the right to speak and express yourself without fear – even in “tolerant” California. When private businesses become dissent-free zones, that’s the quiet death of freedom. 

‘I refuse to stay silent. My constitutional rights aren’t negotiable. Tyranny thrives when good people lack courage.’

Trump confirmed the news in a Truth Social post later Friday calling the California native ‘outstanding.’ 

‘She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning. She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA,’ the president wrote. 

Leavitt quit at the end of August to spend more time with her two young children, leaving the briefing room without a permanent face for more than a month. Trump consulted Leavitt personally before settling on Zacharia for the role, according to CNN. 

Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed criticism over his views on Israel after a tense debate with Republican rival Mike Rogers. The Democratic Senate nominee’s remarks have left some Jewish Democrats questioning whether they can support him, while political experts warn the exchange could create lasting problems for his campaign.

The controversy erupted Thursday night when El-Sayed said he would not regard Israel as an ally if its actions pulled the United States into wars it did not need to fight. He declined, however, to directly say whether Israel or Iran posed the greater threat to the US.

“He, himself, has created this predicament and he now comes off as confused and inauthentic,” Jeff McCall, a DePauw University professor, told The Post.

McCall said the debate demonstrated that El-Sayed was “failing the rhetorical challenge.”

“I don’t consider an ally a country that takes us to wars we don’t need to fight,” El-Sayed said during the Grand Rapids, Michigan, debate, which was hosted by NewsNation and Nexstar’s WOOD-TV.

The discussion followed Rogers’ criticism of El-Sayed for failing to issue a statement commemorating the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

El-Sayed said he had condemned the attack, but accused Rogers of exploiting other people’s suffering as “political theater.”

His comments have revived concerns about El-Sayed’s standing with Jewish Democrats, including voters who have been hesitant to support the progressive candidate because of his positions on Israel.

The Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus has not formally endorsed El-Sayed, even though it has backed other candidates in federal races.

The Post contacted the organization for comment but had not received a response.

El-Sayed also came under scrutiny after brushing aside questions about how he handled the Oct. 7 anniversary in the aftermath of the event.

David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University, told The Post that the debate carried unusual weight because El-Sayed is “arguably more to the left” on foreign policy than other prominent progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Dulio identified El-Sayed’s refusal to choose between Israel and Iran as the debate’s defining moment. The question asked which country represented the greater threat to the United States, but El-Sayed declined to provide a direct answer.

“Many Jewish Democrats in Michigan have been skeptical of El-Sayed and have expressed uncertainty about his candidacy,” Dulio said. “They were likely listening for a question like this to help them make up their minds.”

Dulio said Jewish Democrats could still influence the outcome, and that El-Sayed’s answer might produce a “wobble” in a campaign that had otherwise maintained momentum since the primaries.

“These positions could come back to haunt him,” Dulio said. “‘Dems for Rogers’ is real but we don’t know how big it is. I imagine this is something that’s exceedingly difficult to poll. Rogers will look to grow this group and I imagine Rogers’ campaign will have those debate clips in an ad very soon.”

A Democratic insider told The Post that winning over Jewish Democrats remains “an area of continued focus” for the El-Sayed campaign.

“There will still be Jewish Michiganders who don’t vote for him, but I think he’s reaching those who are open to voting for him,” the source said.

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Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer, an Iraq War veteran, also faulted El-Sayed’s response to the question about whether Israel or Iran posed the greater danger to the United States.

El-Sayed dismissed the question as “dumb” and a “ridiculous hypothetical.”

Meijer agreed that the question was poorly framed but argued that El-Sayed could have given a straightforward answer about the two countries’ relationship with the US.

“He criticized Mike Rogers for asking him to condemn Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, saying they’re scary words, but he hasn’t condemned them,” Meijer said on CNN.

Meijer added that El-Sayed’s response raised questions about whether his approach was political strategy, or reflected a deeper reluctance to address the issue.

“At a certain point, it goes from either this is political malpractice at best, or he [El-Sayed] can’t, or he won’t because of something deeper — and that’s far more troubling. And I just don’t get it because I don’t want to get it because it really is dark,” he added.

The controversy follows weeks of public disagreement among Jewish Democrats over whether El-Sayed’s positions on Israel should disqualify him from their support.

In an Oct. 6 MS NOW interview, one lifelong Democratic voter said her decision hinged on Israel.

“I just would love for him to make a definitive statement, like just saying ‘I would like everyone to know I support Israel,’” she said.

An Oct. 7th Republican Jewish Coalition ad featured lifelong Jewish Democrats in Michigan who said they “will never vote for Abdul El-Sayed.”

“I will never forgive El-Sayed for excusing the terrorists who caused this terrible incident,” one voter said.

Another criticized his response in the immediate aftermath of a Michigan synagogue attack, recalling his comment that “hurt people, hurt people.”

“And he is giving permission for another person to do it again,” the voter said.

El-Sayed was also pressed by reporters Friday about whether he was still mourning the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He declined to discuss the subject, telling reporters he was “not interested in talking about this” and urged them to ask about health care instead.

At the beginning of El-Sayed’s Senate bid, he campaigned more heavily on foreign affairs.

McCall said that given El-Sayed’s prior statements, it would seem “unlikely” for him to modify his rhetoric “enough to ease the minds of supporters of Israel.”

During Thursday’s debate, El-Sayed reiterated that he does not want US tax dollars funding weapons for foreign countries, including Israel. He also said he would not support being drawn into a war with Iran.

Rogers, meanwhile, defended Israel’s right to exist and protect itself, arguing that the US should stand by the Jewish state.

Los Angeles police homicide investigators searched the Joshua Tree region of California on Friday as they pursued leads in the disappearance of Christina Lynn Downer, the sister of a “Saturday Night Live” writer whose family said months ago that she had been killed.

An LAPD spokesperson confirmed to News Media that detectives from the Robbery-Homicide Division began the operation Friday morning. Officials did not identify the specific search site or explain what investigators expected to recover.

Downer, 38, was last known to be in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood in late November 2025. Her disappearance was formally reported to police the following month.

In an Instagram message posted in late April, her brother, “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, said police had told the family that Downer was dead.

“The LAPD has informed our family that Christina is no longer alive, and the case has officially transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation,” Fowlie wrote. “Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable.”

The Los Angeles Police Department later challenged that description, saying Downer had not been found and that the investigation was still classified as a missing-person case, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles.

“Although the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious, Ms. Downer has not been located,” the department said previously, adding that detectives would keep working the case until it was resolved.

Fowlie has also questioned activity involving his sister’s cellphone and social media profiles. He alleged that someone may have used the accounts to obscure her disappearance and suggest that she had chosen to leave.

“The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going ‘off the grid,’” he wrote.

The LAPD has not publicly verified those claims.

An LAPD media relations officer told News Media that investigators could not say whether Friday’s search was focused on human remains, a potential suspect or another form of evidence. Officials also declined to confirm whether search dogs were being used.

Authorities have not explained why detectives were led to Joshua Tree, and it is not clear whether Downer’s official case classification has changed since the department’s earlier statement.

News Media has contacted Fowlie seeking comment.

‘You are a danger to yourself and to the people around you.’

Ken Urker sent that warning to his then-fiancée, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, after she allegedly attacked the headboard of their bed with a kitchen knife during a drunken fit of jealousy while he was away from home last year.

In a disturbing phone call to Amelia Bird, a friend who is still incarcerated, Blanchard reportedly described in detail how she lost her temper after discovering a card Urker allegedly had written to a former girlfriend. The Daily Mail obtained a recording of the conversation.

The account offers a stark look at the former couple’s relationship just days after Urker, 34, was found dead. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances and cause of his death, and no criminal charges have been filed.

Blanchard, 35, was convicted in 2016 of second-degree murder in the death of her mother, Claudine ‘Dee Dee’ Blanchard, and was released from prison in December 2023. Since Urker’s death, she has publicly suggested that he may have died from an apparent drug overdose linked to cyberbullying.

Those statements have provoked anger among some of Urker’s relatives.

‘The narrative being pushed is suicide, and that is a very hurtful narrative to the family and to anybody who loved him,’ Urker’s sister Autumn told the Daily Mail this week. ‘I’m trying to respect my brother and give him dignity. That’s why I’m being open, because that’s not fair to him.’

In an exclusive interview, a grieving Autumn said she wanted to reveal what she believes Blanchard is like away from the public eye. She said her goals were to protect her 1-year-old niece, Aurora, and draw attention to what she described as ‘targeted attacks’ against her family.

Autumn’s position differs from that of some other relatives. She said family members invited Blanchard to Urker’s viewing and forthcoming funeral because they feared a confrontation could jeopardize their ability to see Aurora.

‘When I spoke with my mother, she was in tears telling me that we have to be nice to Gypsy or she won’t let her see Aurora,’ Autumn said. ‘My mom is a very forgiving person and I’m just not at that stage right now.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Urker’s mother, Raina Williams, for comment.

Autumn said she was sorry she arrived too late for the viewing, although she said her farewells from the parking lot. She added that she will ‘absolutely’ attend her brother’s funeral and hopes her anger will eventually ease.

Even so, Autumn said she has significant grief and resentment to work through before she can reconcile with Blanchard. She blames Blanchard for the intense public scrutiny Urker faced.

‘He had to sleep with a gun every night,’ she said.

The Daily Mail reviewed text messages that Autumn said were written by her brother. In them, the father of one allegedly said he carried a weapon because of ‘death threats’ and after being ‘doxxed.’

Autumn stressed that Urker was not carrying a gun because he feared Blanchard would attack him. Instead, she said, he armed himself because of the persistent online abuse and threats from internet trolls.

She said the backlash intensified in recent weeks after prison phone calls between Urker and Blanchard were leaked. ‘He was quite humiliated with some of the phone calls that had come out,’ Autumn alleged.

The Daily Mail obtained logs for thousands of calls Blanchard made to Urker as well as other pen pals during her prison stint between 2016 and 2023. We also reviewed logs for calls she made once she was out of prison to Bird, who is currently still serving her own murder sentence.

In the aforementioned conversation which took place in September 2025, Blanchard confided in her incarcerated friend about an explosive fight between her and Urker.

‘I drank vodka, tequila, rum and whiskey,’ she said while explaining she had gone out to blow off steam after finding a romantic card that Urker allegedly wrote to his ex.

Once she returned to her and Urker’s house, Blanchard said on the call: ‘I go grab a knife in the kitchen, and I go to that headboard, and I stab the motherf**ing headboard and I carve “w***e” in the headboard.’

Urker was not home at the time so she said she left him a note that said ‘sleep with your “one and only,” G,’ adding: ‘I smashed a picture frame of us on the ground, glass went everywhere and all the prison letters that we wrote back and forth, I threw them up in the air like money.’ 

Continuing her path of destruction, Blanchard said she ‘took a pair of scissors’ and cut up a blanket, fired off angry texts and then ran off to her parents’ place while ‘drunk as f**k.’

The Daily Mail obtained video footage of Blanchard shouting expletives while shredding a blanket and recording herself. In the clip, she can be heard yelling through tears: ‘This is how I feel about you! Lies, lies, lies! …. F**k you!’

Blanchard told her incarcerated pal that once Urker arrived and saw what she had done, he told her: ‘I took pictures of you stabbing the headboard, and the broken glass… I’m filing for sole custody. You are not allowed around Aurora unsupervised.’ 

‘There are people close to me that are, like, “You scared the f**k out of him. You know what you were in prison for”… but because of my history, it freaks people out. Let’s just be real. It freaks people out,’ Blanchard admitted. 

On the call, she expressed regret for her disturbing actions, jealous tendencies – as she had often accused Urker of cheating in the past – and said she was attempting to get professional help but did not know where she and Urker stood.

Autumn told the Daily Mail that Blanchard and her brother reconciled after that volatile fight and that she didn’t personally learn about the headboard incident until February.

‘I did get nervous and I went off and I was like, “What are we going to do about this? Why are we ignoring it?” And my mom’s just like, “Oh, the cops said that there was nothing they could do,”‘ Autumn claimed. 

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The Daily Mail contacted the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, who are investigating Urker’s death. A public information officer said that while they are aware of the headboard incident, they do not have record of anyone reporting it to them last year. 

However, the officer also confirmed that if another jurisdiction had been contacted, charges would not be filed as no individuals were harmed, only personal property.

Autumn told the Daily Mail that when she approached her brother about Blanchard’s outburst, she warned him: ‘That’s dangerous, Kenan, and it’s going to escalate. That’s what her pattern is.’

‘And I was just worried about him,’ she added, claiming Urker brushed it off and said, ‘This is old’ – since nearly six months had gone by.

‘I just fell on deaf ears. I was the problem,’ she said.

Concerned over what may happen next, Autumn said she exposed Blanchard on social media, which only caused a bigger rift between her and her older brother.

However, when an anonymous blogger started to leak Blanchard’s prison calls online, Autumn said Urker finally started to pull away from the mother of his child.

She said they eventually split due to ‘a combination of things,’ including a disagreement over his dog Parker. She said Urker was just ‘fed up and overwhelmed.’

‘He said he was done, and then he started listening to [the prison] calls, and he was really done,’ Autumn claimed.

Though Urker decided to take some time apart from Blanchard amid all of their turmoil, he allegedly didn’t want to separate his ex from his daughter ‘in totality.’

‘He just wanted to keep custody so that he could keep her safe,’ Autumn claimed. ‘He just didn’t trust [Blanchard] to have [Aurora] by herself. He just didn’t trust her.’

Autumn claimed that her older brother confided in her and some friends about the stressful situation he was dealing with, but she does not believe that he reached a low enough point to ever consider ending his life.

She said when they spoke over the phone the night before his 34th birthday, hours before he died, he made plans to check in with loved ones the following day.

‘I told him that the kids were going to call him on FaceTime to wish him a happy birthday later and he’s like, “Alright, have them call me,”‘ Autumn said.

‘I don’t think he would ever do this to Aurora or my mother, and the family doesn’t think he did this on purpose, either.’

Autumn also denied that Urker struggled with substance abuse issues, though she recognized that he liked to drink alcohol on occasion and perhaps dabbled in drug use on a recreational basis.

‘Maybe he was in a down mood and he’s like, “I’m going to do this one time or this one day because it’s my birthday and to hell with it,” and maybe he either did something that … his body didn’t have this tolerance or he got ahold of something that was laced with fentanyl and obviously that would be an accident,’ she speculated.

A source, who was friends with both Urker and Blanchard, told the Daily Mail: ‘I do not believe he would ever take his own life. He loved Aurora too much.’

Urker’s body was found at his Louisiana home on October 1 with syringes, a spoon, a holstered handgun and a ‘brown powdery substance’ nearby, according to police. However, his official toxicology and autopsy report is still pending.

Autumn said that she and other family members are cooperating with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office’s active investigation into her brother’s death, which the Daily Mail confirmed via a public information officer is ongoing. 

Autumn claimed she was told that police said that ‘because of who [Blanchard] is, they’re not leaving any stone unturned. They’re going to check everything.’

Despite their ongoing feud, Autumn said she supports Blanchard’s petition to create ‘Kenan’s Law,’ which the Life After Lockup alum started in her late ex’s honor in an effort to end cyberbullying. 

‘I think it’s a beautiful idea,’ Autumn admitted before pointing out that she thinks ‘it’s a slap in the face for Gypsy to be the one doing it.’ She then bashed Blanchard’s decision to use Aurora’s pic in the petition, adding: ‘I’m just angry at her.’

In a tribute to Urker the day after he died, Blanchard wrote on Instagram: ‘You will always be my greatest love story. You will be remembered and loved forever.’

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Blanchard for comment. 

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org 

A Mercedes driver allegedly speeding to make a traffic light barreled through a Bronx intersection Friday afternoon, striking four pedestrians and leaving one dead, according to law enforcement sources.

The crash occurred around 2:15 p.m. as the driver traveled west on Allerton Avenue and ran a solid red light at Holland Avenue. The vehicle hit four women, all believed to be between 50 and 60 years old, as they crossed in the marked crosswalk, sources said.

All four victims were transported to Jacobi Medical Center. One woman died at the hospital, while two others remained in critical condition. The fourth pedestrian was expected to survive, according to authorities.

The Mercedes also collided with two other vehicles during the violent chain-reaction crash, sources said.

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The driver was conscious and alert and suffered minor injuries. He reportedly told a witness that he had been trying to beat the light, according to law enforcement sources.

FDNY officials said EMS crews treated nine people in connection with the broad-daylight collision.

Washington — President Trump announced Friday that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will become the next White House press secretary, describing her as a supporter with an “unblemished record.”

A California native, Zacharia briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year. She now works as a senior communications adviser for Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. Trump also said she had assisted him during his presidential campaign.

“She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA! I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next White House Press Secretary, as she has the respect of, and will work fantastically with, the Media, the American People, and my Administration.”

Trump wished Zacharia success in the role. The New York Times first reported that she had been offered the position.

The White House press secretary position has been vacant since Karoline Leavitt departed in late August. The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room has not hosted a press briefing since Sept. 3, when Vice President JD Vance spoke with reporters and answered questions.

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Zacharia lives in California and earned both her undergraduate and law degrees from Pepperdine University in Malibu, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Earlier this year, Zacharia detailed her experience wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat to a local gym in an opinion article for the New York Post. She wrote that the gym’s owner eventually asked her to stop wearing it.

“I responded that I would never take my Trump hat off to appease the left,” she wrote. “This is raw, unfiltered intolerance. Freedom of speech doesn’t evaporate at the gym door.”

“The First Amendment has no ‘discomfort’ clause,” she added. However, the First Amendment protects people from government censorship of speech, rather than restrictions imposed by private businesses.