New Press Secretary Katie Zacharia’s Throwback Photo Sparks MAGA Makeover Debate

Katie Zacharia stepped up to the White House podium for the first time as press secretary on Tuesday and the whole thing wrapped up in under fifteen minutes. Only three reporters got a chance to ask anything before she ended it. Some people watching thought she handled herself fine in those first moments. Others on social media were a lot less kind.

One person wondered out loud if the whole briefing looked like a hostage video. Another said she made Karoline Leavitt seem like Winston Churchill by comparison. Someone else on X compared her delivery to a flight attendant giving the safety briefing for the very first time. A few comments went further and claimed her main qualifications for the job were simply being young, blonde, and white.

Not everyone piled on. White House communications director Steven Cheung came out and defended her right away. He called her a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team. He said she is uniquely qualified and whip smart, and that she will do an incredible job keeping the American people informed about everything President Trump and the administration have been doing.

After the briefing ended, people online started digging through her old Instagram. One photo from March 2013 started circulating again. In it she is smiling at the camera while holding a bubble tea. She would have been around thirty at the time.

Plenty of people pointed out how different she looks now compared with that picture from thirteen years ago. Some of them started calling the change a MAGA makeover or Mar-a-Lago face, terms that have been floating around for a while to describe a certain polished look that shows up a lot among women close to Trump. One person on X put it bluntly and said it appears Ms. Katie has done the MAGA makeover.

Not everyone was convinced the difference meant anything special. Several people pushed back and said the photo is from 2013 and of course styles and looks change. One commenter pointed out that they do not look the same as they did in 2013 either. Another simply said everyone ages and we should be nice about it.