Katie Zacharia posted a photo on X of herself next to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on October 17, the day she was asked to resign after serving five days as White House press secretary. Trump sat at his desk in the image, and a map on the desk appeared blurred. She described him as “a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man” and wrote, “I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to. It was an honor to work for him.”
She had taken the job the Monday before. The short tenure ended after her first briefing drew criticism and after it emerged that she had not passed the bar exam, even though she had referred to herself as an attorney. The following day she shared another photo on X that included her family with Trump in the same room. The map visible in the earlier picture appeared to have been removed from this second image.
In the October 18 post, she thanked Trump for hosting her family and for gifts he gave her children on her son’s birthday. She called the experience “an unforgettable honor.” The apparent change between the two photos prompted some viewers to ask why the map was no longer shown.
Group opposing park project highlights map on president’s desk
The landmass shown on the blurred map appeared to match the shape of East Potomac Park. Trump has said he wants to renovate the golf course located there. He posted on Truth Social in late June about plans to renovate what he called the park’s “dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course.” The DC Preservation League has sued to challenge the effort.
Administration officials have said no final design for the course has been completed. Save East Po retweeted the October 17 photo and wrote, “FYI to anyone paying attention – that blurred out map on the PRESIDENT’S DESK is East Potomac Park.” After the family photo appeared, the group wrote, “Nothing says ‘we have no plan’ like a photo of plan-shaped map on the President’s desk, followed by a second photo where that map has been digitally removed.”
Alex Rosen, founder of Save East Po, told The Washington Post that features on the blurred map look like previously circulated renderings of renovation plans. More than 400 trees have already been removed from the park. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued an order that stopped the National Park Service from cutting down any more trees.
Government lawyers have argued that the tree removals were not connected to the president’s renovation idea. They said the work followed a 2019 plan meant to return the course to its original design.
In a memorandum released on Tuesday, Reyes wrote, “It is a coincidence, the government seems to suggest, that DOI [Department of the Interior] cut down hundreds of trees at the course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years.”
Opponents of the renovation have treated the map as evidence that Trump plans to move ahead even while the lawsuit continues. Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said in a statement that the Daily Mail was “breathlessly obsessing over an innocuous photo” and suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Zacharia, who drew scrutiny over her claims to be a lawyer, told the outlet, “It is only fitting that the Daily Mail would turn a very sweet picture into something controversial.”
Trump returned to the topic on Sunday morning in a Truth Social post. He wrote, “Doug Burgum, and the United States Department of the Interior, is very excited about the new Development of a Great Golf Course at the site of the old East Potomac Golf Links. We would like to thank Tom Fazio for his initial conceptual design and ideas, coupled with those of others from within the Golf World and the Department of the Interior.”
He added, “Any variance or changes will be made, depending on site conditions, by the Experts in Parks and Recreation, whose experience and knowledge in Seawalls, Landscaping, and Design are second to none.” Whether the post was linked to the discussion of Zacharia’s photos is not clear.
Critics have also pointed to other projects Trump has pushed in Washington, D.C. He demolished the White House East Wing so a ballroom could be built, without approval from Congress. He moved forward with plans for a 250-foot arch on Columbia Island without final sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission.
He placed his name on the Kennedy Center as well. Each project drew legal challenges. The Supreme Court allowed temporary work to continue on the ballroom, while the arch and the Kennedy Center name change remain unresolved.
White House Press Secretary Zacharia left the job after five days, the shortest tenure in the position’s history, following a widely criticized first and only press briefing. Her performance fueled speculation about her future, and the prediction market Polymarket began offering odds on whether she would be fired.
Published: Oct 19, 2026 10:30 am