Zacharias fled the briefing room after less than 15 minutes.

At that point, she declared an end to the briefing because Trump was “heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there.”

The president was not scheduled to depart for Alaska for several hours.

Her brief performance left journalists stunned and MAGA insiders decidedly unimpressed.

One former Trump administration official who remains close to people serving in the administration texted The Independent to declare Zacharia’s debut “a train wreck” after previously describing her as a “joke hire” who’d likely be “gone in six months.”

Separately, a current administration official told MS NOW that Zacharia had “got off on the wrong foot” and needed to “get much better, fast” lest she lose her job faster than the 11-day record held by one of Trump’s ex-communications directors, hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci.

But the White House, at least publicly, is standing by the new press secretary, with White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung writing on X that Zacharias’ debut was “a tremendous start.”