Fired White House Press Sec. Katie Zacharia Shared a Photo That Appears to Contain Sensitive Information

Katie Zacharia did not last long as the White House press secretary, just five days — a record-short time. And it appears she may have even flunked her exit by posting a photo containing sensitive information.

On Saturday, Zacharia confirmed she was leaving her position via a photo of her and President Trump in the Oval Office posted on social media.

“President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and the most hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to,” Zacharia writes. “It was an honor to work for him.”

But it was the photo that prompted controversy. Sitting on the Resolute Desk is a conspicuously blurred map. A second post containing a photo of Zacharia with her family showed the map badly edited out entirely, with fragments of the map still remaining.

Thank you, President Trump, for hosting my family and me in the Oval Office and for the generous gifts you gave my children on my son’s birthday. It was an unforgettable honor. https://t.co/Ng3ty8vLpu

— Katie Zacharia (@KatieZacharia) October 17, 2026

The Washington Post reports that the map appears to show East Potomac Park in D.C., where Trump is planning to make major changes to a public golf course. It is currently the subject of a lawsuit.

Alex Rosen from the advocacy group Save East Po says he immediately recognized the outline of the map.

“It’s a distinctive shape,” Rosen tells WaPo. “When you look at that photo, it is very clear that you can draw comparisons between that and what the peninsula looks like.”

In July, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to present any long-term plans for the golf course before carrying out work. However, the Interior Department recently appeared to do just that by felling hundreds of trees in the park.

Trump Reveals the Map

Yesterday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social what appears to be the very same map that was in Zacharia’s photo.

Trump announced that there is a plan to “build a World Class Championship Golf Course on the site of the current East Potomac Golf Links, located in Washington, D.C.”

The President says the golf course will be fit for major tournaments like the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup.

Whether Zacharia’s photo mishap prompted Trump to announce the plans earlier than expected isn’t clear. But several major media organizations contacted the White House about the map over the weekend.