Katie Zakaria began her duties as White House press secretary, succeeding Caroline Leavitt, and revealed during her first press briefing that her family plans to move to Washington. She said the arrangement was intended to keep her children close to her professional life as she took on the responsibilities of her new role. Zakaria said she has four children, aged 12, 10, 8 and 6, three of them boys.
Zakaria explains her family’s move to Washington
She explained that her husband had attended with the children, saying the decision to move the family to the capital was part of her attempt to balance the demands of her work and family life. The new press secretary stressed that the time she spends with her children is a priority for her and that she does not accept being away from them at night.
She also acknowledged that balancing their needs with the responsibilities of her job would not be easy and that the work associated with the role would be demanding, but stressed that her family would remain her foremost priority. Answering a question about balancing work and motherhood, Zakaria began by thanking her husband for his support and help, but mistakenly referred to him as “the president” before continuing to discuss her children and arrangements for their move to Washington.
Zakaria praised the support she had received from her husband at this stage, saying that handling the responsibilities of the role and the children’s needs required a joint effort. She also praised President Donald Trump’s understanding of her being a mother of four, describing him as the most family-conscious of presidents.
Zakaria spoke about her previous experience of motherhood and work, explaining that she stayed at home to care for her children from 2014 to 2020. After returning to work, she tried to involve them in some aspects of her professional life and keep them close to her.
In this context, she recalled photographs of herself with her children backstage at media appearances, indicating that bringing them into her work environment was not a new arrangement for her, despite the greater scale of the responsibilities and the sensitivity of the role she now holds. Zakaria is a lawyer who has previously appeared as a commentator on Fox News. She also praised her predecessor, Caroline Leavitt, saying that Leavitt had given her advice on balancing the demands of working at the White House with family life.
Trump remarks open debate over options towards Iran
Leavitt left the role in August to spend more time with her two children, while Zakaria chose to bring her family closer to her workplace by moving to Washington. Zakaria’s start in the role coincided with remarks by the US president about Iran. Trump said Washington would make a decision concerning Tehran “very soon”, without specifying the nature of the expected decision or when it would be taken.
Meanwhile, a White House official denied reports that the United States might launch an attack on Iran before the midterm elections. The denial came as Trump provided no further details about the options being considered by his administration or the step he meant by referring to the imminent decision.
