'Inconsequential': Trump's new press secretary confirms she didn't pass the bar exam

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia appeared to confirm on Friday that she did not pass a United States bar exam, following mounting questions over her legal credentials days into her new role.

Zacharia had repeatedly presented herself as a lawyer during media appearances, and US President Donald Trump described her as "an attorney" when announcing her appointment last week.

However, journalists found no record of her being licensed to practice law in any US state, spurring questions about how she had represented herself.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that Zacharia sat the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011 but did not pass.

Obtaining a law degree does not automatically qualify someone to practice law. California's state bar confirmed to US media that it had no record of Zacharia holding a license under either her married or maiden name.

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Appearing on the right-wing Real America's Voice network on Friday, Zacharia said she had been in a long-distance relationship during law school and moved after graduating to be with her husband, who worked at an American private equity company in China.

The 41-year-old said she had pre-registered to take the bar but was "distracted and overwhelmed and excited" to be married.

"The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn't need the bar in China and we left shortly thereafter," she said, without explicitly stating if she had passed or failed.

"After moving to China, I think I didn't really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on, and I was offered a job at an international practice division of a Chinese law firm."

"There's no Chinese bar. I had enough credentials — which was my law degree — to be able to do this practice."

Foreign nationals cannot sit China's bar exam. However, they can undertake certain legal work at Chinese law firms.

Zacharia acknowledged there was controversy over her decision to present herself as a "lawyer" but branded it "misinformation" and "miscommunication".

She said she had consulted "many people" in the legal field and determined she could call herself a lawyer, but not an "attorney at law" or "Katie Zacharia, Esquire". She said she'd been advised she could provide legal analysis but not advice.