Trump’s new spokeswoman shown the door after disastrous debut and lawyer row

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia has been pushed out after less than a week in the role following a poorly received press briefing, controversy over her claims to be a lawyer and remarks mocking China’s toilets.

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss, President Donald Trump.

"Can confirm," a White House official told AFP, after Fox News reported that Zacharia, 41, was "transitioning out."

The writing was on the wall earlier when Trump made clear he was ready to see his newly minted spokeswoman go amid criticism that she had pretended to be a lawyer and over her one, much-mocked press briefing.

"I said, 'Katie, is this for you?,'" Trump told reporters. "I said, 'Katie, you don't have to do this'...I said to her, 'Honestly if I were you I'd reconsider.'"

During Trump's first term in office, the 11-day tenure of financier Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director was widely mocked for its brevity, and even became an internet meme.

"Records are made to be broken," Scaramucci wrote on X, adding: "But I take no pleasure in other people's pain."

She took over the role from the combative Karoline Leavitt, who helped Trump reshape White House coverage by bringing in more friendly outlets and fiercely attacking critical media.

Zacharia had got off to a rocky start with her debut press room briefing Tuesday morning.

It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a remarkably slow reading out of what she said were Trump's many accomplishments -- then taking just three questions from journalists.

She then was plunged into controversy when it emerged that her previous claims to be a lawyer were not true.

The kerfuffle is a distraction for 80-year-old Trump as he flies around the country trying to boost Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 congressional midterm elections, with polls predicting a drubbing.

The Republican leader himself also faces ever-lower polls as Americans sour over the war against Iran, inflation and perceptions of corruption.

Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.