MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump's new press secretary starts this week. Conservative commentator Katie Zacharia is expected to give her first White House press briefing tomorrow. What made her so appealing to the president? Let's ask New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager. Tyler, good morning.
TYLER PAGER: Good morning.
MARTIN: So tell us a little bit about her background, if you would.
PAGER: So Katie Zacharia is someone who has worked in and out of Republican politics for quite some time. She comes to this job having been a communications adviser to the parent company of Truth Social, the president's social media platform. But it's really her appearances on cable TV that caught the president's attention. She's a frequent conservative commentator for Newsmax, Fox News and other channels.
MARTIN: So let's get through this. And what are some of the issues that she's known for talking about? Or what are the kinds of things she's commented on?
PAGER: Yeah. I mean, she has been sort of in that space of a prominent conservative commentator on Fox News, on Newsmax, defending the president. The president said that she had a, quote, "unblemished record of support" and was, quote, "a loyal and brilliant supporter right from the beginning." I talked to sources who were close to this decision, and they said he sort of saw her on TV - we know he's a regular watcher of cable news - and liked how forceful she was in defending him and his policies.
MARTIN: So it's her style, I guess? It's her style that is the main thing. It's her unwavering support. Are there any issues that she's particularly identified with?
PAGER: It's - she - it's more the political partisan nature. I mean, she's someone who has worked for an organization called Fix California, a nonprofit founded by Ric Grenell, a Trump ally, to advance the conservative agenda in the state. She's worked for an anti-abortion advocacy group. Obviously, she spent a few weeks at the Department of Homeland Security, immigration being a big priority of the president. But really, I think what set her apart for this position was her style and her performance on TV. Obviously, the president cares a lot about that, and he was impressed by the hits he saw her do in his defense.
MARTIN: Is there any way in which she differs from her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt?
PAGER: So a key difference between her and Karoline is that Karoline was someone who grew up inside the Make America Great Again movement and worked directly for President Trump. She worked in the press office in the president's first term and then was a top campaign spokeswoman during his most recent campaign. Katie is not someone that has spent a lot of time around the president or worked directly for him in the White House. She worked briefly at the Department of Homeland Security in the beginning - at the beginning of this term. But this is someone that is going to have to develop a relationship or a deeper relationship with President Trump much more quickly.
MARTIN: OK. So before we let you go, Zacharia's coming in in the middle of Trump's really escalating fight against the press corps. CNN, MS NOW, Politico sued over the White House kicking them out. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into big TV networks that are rejecting pool activities in solidarity. Does Zacharia's appointment signal anything about the kind of relationship President Trump wants to have with the media?
PAGER: I mean, it is a continuation of what we've seen throughout President Trump's entire political career, which is a very adversarial relationship with the press corps. I don't think there's any expectation that she would be taking a different tack, but it remains to be seen. I think one of the things is that she has not had a very lengthy relationship with the Washington - with the White House press corps.
MARTIN: OK.
PAGER: So we'll see this week.
MARTIN: OK. We'll leave it there for now. That's Tyler Pager, White House correspondent for The New York Times. Tyler, thank you.
PAGER: Thanks so much for having me, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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