President Donald Trump's first choice to be his press secretary turned him down for a better-paying gig, according to a new report.
Before he settled on ousted White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia, the president wanted former Fox News host Maria Bartiromo for the job, Axios reported Friday, citing two senior Trump administration officials. Bartiromo let it be known she wasn't interested, and one official chalked it up to money.
"She's no longer on air, but she's still on the Fox payroll and the taxpayers can't compete with that," the official said.
The revelation landed the same day Zacharia was pushed out after just five days in the West Wing, giving her the briefest run of any press secretary in modern memory.
Trump announced her hire on October 9, and she reported for duty the following Monday. Her first and apparently last briefing came a day later, and a White House official told Axios she appeared rattled at the podium and failed to impress the president.
Trouble deepened when The Wall Street Journal reported Zacharia wasn't licensed to practice law in any state, despite Trump touting her as an "attorney" on Truth Social. Zacharia told Fox News she failed the bar exam and never tried again because she was relocating to China. According to Axios, Trump was "blindsided" by the news and unconvinced by her explanations.
Trump told reporters Friday he had nudged her toward the exit.
"The news has been so nasty to her. I've never seen anything like it actually," Trump said. "And I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider.'"
Zacharia's hire was Trump's call alone, Axios reported, pushed along by his personal assistant Natalie Harp. Conservative commentator Scott Jennings was also considered but never got an offer.
Zacharia struck a gracious tone on her way out, calling Trump "the most hardworking man" in a post on X.
"It was an honor to work for him," she wrote.
Marc Caputo, one of the Axios reporters behind the story, said on X that he had been sitting on the Bartiromo detail and couldn't find it published anywhere else.
Trump is in "no rush" to name a replacement, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy said after speaking with the president Friday.