U.S. President Trump appointed conservative commentator Katie Zacharia as White House Press Secretary on October 9, succeeding Karoline Leavitt; she graduated from Pepperdine University and worked in Beijing for about three years after obtaining her law degree in 2011.

From 2011 to 2013, Zacharia worked in the international business team at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing, handling cross-border corporate transactions and international legal matters, and provided external legal advisory services to the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), involving international business and investment-related legal work.

During this time, she was involved with the non-profit organization Compassion for Migrant Children, focusing on fundraising and outreach, and addressing the education and welfare of migrant children in China; her LinkedIn profile lists two work experiences in Beijing, with her Chinese proficiency noted as beginner level.

Zacharia has stated in interviews that her time in China, where she visited multiple regions, was one of the most exciting and unforgettable periods of her life; her Chinese has since declined, but she can still understand some content and occasionally surprises others by speaking Chinese at gatherings.

She previously interned at the White House Office of Political Affairs during the George W. Bush administration, served as president of the Christian Legal Society, and recently held a brief position as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, while also serving as a senior communications advisor for Trump Media and Truth Social, frequently appearing on conservative media outlets like Fox and Newsmax.

This appointment places someone with frontline legal and public welfare experience in China at the core of the White House's external communications; driven by events, her background in cross-border transactions and international advisory roles may influence the framing of issues related to China, contrasting with her previous brief experience at the Department of Homeland Security in the current immigration policy enforcement environment.

Her husband, Tyler Zacharia, also studied Chinese in Beijing and worked in emerging market investments, and their time in Beijing overlapped.

Source: Public Information