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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Joseph Gedeon in Washington

Trump’s new press secretary says she passed bar exam ‘when I moved to China’, raising questions of US authority

a woman is reflected in glass as she walks
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia walks out to speak with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer. But when asked after her inaugural press briefing on Tuesday to name the state where she passed the bar exam, she replied curiously: “when I moved to China”.

No public record shows she has ever been licensed to practice law in the US states where she resided, and her answer to reporters’ questions on Tuesday only deepened scrutiny.

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