Katie Zacharia, the new press secretary of the White House appointed by Donald Trump, held her first press conference on Tuesday amid an uncomfortable revelation: according to an investigation by CNN, Zacharia shared a post on Truth Social in 2022 that depicted Vladimir Putin as a fighter against an alleged network of leftist elites, just weeks after the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The content that Zacharia redistributed, originally published by an account named "Richard Tomas," stated: "Putin is at war with the cabal, and Ukraine is allied with them." The post included images of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George Soros as alleged members of that network.
The same research revealed that, also in 2022, Zacharia actively spread content related to the conspiracy theory "Pizzagate," which unfoundedly accused Democrats and public figures of sexually abusing minors.
In September of that year, he wrote on Truth Social: "Pedo Podesta. #pedoPodesta," referring to John Podesta, former chief of staff to Bill Clinton and campaign director for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Podesta has never been formally charged or accused of any crime. He has described Pizzagate as “alt-Right fake news”. Clinton herself testified before Congress in February of this year that the conspiracy was "completely made up."
What makes Zacharia's history particularly significant is the origin of those narratives: the Pizzagate theory arose directly from the Podesta emails stolen in 2016 by the Russian hacker group Fancy Bear, linked to Russian military intelligence, and published by WikiLeaks.
Thus, Zacharia's publications connect two narratives favorable to Moscow: one that portrays Putin as an anti-elite hero and another that demonizes Democrats with accusations stemming from material stolen by Russian operatives.
This pattern fits into the long history of pro-Putin sympathies within the MAGA movement.
The investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller documented numerous contacts between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian citizens, including the transfer of internal information by then-campaign chief Paul Manafort to Konstantin Kilimnik, who was described by the U.S. Senate as having ties to Russian intelligence.
Trump has consistently labeled that investigation as a "witch hunt" and has been determined to discredit and shut it down since he took office for his second term.
Zacharia was appointed by Trump on October 9 to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the position in August. Before her appointment, she served as a senior communications advisor at Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social, and had a brief tenure as spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem.
Upon announcing her appointment, Trump praised her on Truth Social, highlighting her "unblemished record of support" and describing her as a "loyal and brilliant supporter from the very beginning."
However, the investigation by CNN also uncovered a deleted tweet from Zacharia on the X platform in which he warned: "The 2026 midterm elections will be a bloodbath if we don't change course now," an implicit critique of the administration itself.
In his first appearance before the press, Zacharia also announced that Trump had requested the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece. When asked about the revelations regarding her social media history, she responded that she was "grateful to serve President Trump as press secretary" and that she would amplify "diligently and effectively his successful agenda."
The White House Director of Communications, Steven Cung, described her as "a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team" and assured that she would do "an incredible job."
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