Katie Zacharia corrects "my president" slip at first White House briefing
The New York Times' clip pairs the new press secretary's verbal mix-up with Trump's assessment of her debut.
Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 364,112 views a day, 24 times a normal first day on this channel (14,833).
New White House Press Secretary Has Bumpy Debut
Katie Zacharia began at the White House lectern by expressing her honor at working for President Trump and the American people. The moment that anchors The New York Times' report came later, when she mixed up "my president" and "my husband," corrected herself and laughed.
The Short, titled "New White House Press Secretary Has Bumpy Debut," drew about 364,000 views in its first day, roughly 25 times the channel's usual opening for Shorts.
The report compresses Tuesday's briefing into a brief sequence: Zacharia's introduction, a scripted opening and a reporter's question about the timing of potential personnel firings. The Times says she spent eight minutes reading from a script and called on only three reporters.
After the verbal correction, Zacharia says, "That's a good one." The clip then moves outside, where reporters ask Trump for his assessment. "I thought she was very good," he replies.
Another Times Short, "Why Trump Made a Diesel Deal With Putin," also drew an unusually fast early audience. That report features correspondent David E. Sanger explaining the fuel agreement and its relationship to energy sanctions on Russia.
Published on Trari
Where next?
- Channel
- The New York Times
- Subscribers
- 5,300,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 7,742,608
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,607,856 (on a normal day: 850,177)
- Video published
- October 14, 2026
- Video views so far
- 370,394 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 369,117
The numbers
The briefing clip drew far more first-day views than a typical Times Short. Its comment section was also nearly ten times as busy as usual.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which television drama features White House press secretary C.J. Cregg?
Allison Janney plays C.J. Cregg, who begins The West Wing as White House press secretary.



