WASHINGTON — Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia actively sought media interviews, including with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, in the lead-up to her interview Thursday on Hannity, according to text messages reviewed by Breitbart News.
The texts debunk the Politico narrative that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles “set up” and orchestrated the interview Thursday, on the eve of President Donald Trump offering Zacharia an off-ramp from her five-day tenure as press secretary.
A White House official told Breitbart News that before running its story titled “Susie Wiles helped set up Fox interview ahead of press secretary’s exit,” Politico had text messages from the White House indicating Zacharia had initiated the booking.
One text exchange Tuesday afternoon, hours after Zacharia’s press briefing, shows a Fox News producer saying that Zacharia had offered to do an interview on Hannity that night. However, President Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Alaska that evening, and the interview did not materialize.
Chief of Staff Susie Wiles looks on as President Donald Trump speaks to the press during a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Monday, July 7, 2025, in the Blue Room. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
“Katie said she can join us from the rally tonight,” the producer wrote.
An official responded, “I don’t believe the timing works,” and soon after added that the president would be speaking in the hour that Hannity’s show airs, 9 p.m. Eastern, or would have just finished speaking.
Another text from Wednesday morning shows Zacharia writing to a White House official that “I’d like to do news hits morning and evening.” She followed up with, “If you could book those m-f” and “To the extent possible.”
Zacharia ultimately joined Hannity on Thursday night.
The Politico article makes no mention of the text messages that undermine the narrative, and instead relies on anonymous sources, one of whom claimed Wiles and White House spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez “fed” Zacharia to Hannity.
According to a White House official, a reporter acknowledged that editors would not remove Wiles from the story because she was the “hook.”
The article followed two separate Politico pieces, the first of which claimed Trump was weighing replacing Wiles with one of five people. Trump called the narrative “bullshit,” and provided an on-the-record statement to the publication that was featured in the article:
“TOTAL FAKE NEWS Politico doesn’t care about facts, integrity, or honest journalism — it’s why I kicked them out of the White House!” the president said. “Susie Wiles is my loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff — there is a reason for that. She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The other article was a follow-up, claiming the first piece caused a “freakout” in the West Wing after Executive and Special Assistant to the President Natalie Harp printed it to show Trump.
Trump, as mentioned above, provided a comment for the story that was claimed to cause the “freakout” and, per a White House official, Politico’s reporters knew he had been briefed on it before publication because of how the White House and president worked with reporters to handle the inquiry, but Politico still ran the story that the first piece caused a “freakout.”
“These latest hit jobs expose the disgraceful direction of Politico under its new leadership which prioritizes sensational headlines and clickbait over facts and journalistic integrity,” a White House official told Breitbart News. “Once a serious news outlet, Politico has devolved into a personality-driven tabloid that peddles gossip, anonymous smears, and manufactured drama.”
“Sensationalism has replaced substance, personal attacks have replaced reporting, and journalistic integrity is nonexistent. Politico is sacrificing its credibility for cheap clicks and it’s shameful,” the official added.
