7 Biggest Flame Outs of Trump 2.0 So Far — As Katie Zacharia’s Ignominious 5-Day Tenure Concludes

President Donald Trump has seen his fair share of spectacular personnel flameouts during his second term, but his latest press secretary may have set a whole new standard.

Katie Zacharia is out of a job Friday after just five days in her role, following a disastrous debut briefing, a grilling by Fox News host Sean Hannity, and damning revelations about her legal credentials.

But Zacharia is hardly alone. From a national security adviser who accidentally invited a journalist into a sensitive military group chat to a Cabinet secretary whose tenure became engulfed in strip club allegations, Trump’s second administration has produced no shortage of embarrassing exits.

Here are seven of the most spectacular, plus an honorable mention, in no particular order:

1. Katie Zacharia — White House Press Secretary

Zacharia barely had time to unpack.

During her first — and only — briefing, she fielded only three questions in 14 minutes, with much of that time spent on prepared remarks. Minutes later, outside the White House, Zacharia replied, “When I moved to China,” when a reporter asked where she had passed the bar — a question she later said she misheard. Subsequent reporting revealed that she had actually failed the exam.

Yet, as Hannity noted on Thursday night, “There’s a report out tonight that shows 15 social media posts where you identify yourself as an attorney.”

“Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” Trump recalled telling Zacharia on Friday.

Minutes later, Fox News reported that she was “transitioning out” of the job.

2. Pam Bondi — Attorney General

Bondi’s tenure as attorney general went down in flames amid mounting outrage over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Her congressional testimony on the matter in February devolved into a shouting match, with Bondi calling Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) a “washed-up loser lawyer,” and refusing to apologize to Epstein victims seated behind her.

The spectacle did little to quiet questions about the Justice Department’s botched release of the files, which exposed some victims’ identities while reportedly concealing the identities of government officials and “politically exposed individuals.”

Trump fired Bondi in April, but her Epstein troubles followed her out the door as she faced the threat of contempt proceedings before finally agreeing to testify before the House Oversight Committee in May.

3. Kristi Noem — Homeland Security Secretary

Noem’s stint running DHS ended after a cascade of scandals and bruising congressional hearings.

The former South Dakota governor faced bipartisan criticism over the fatal shootings of two American citizens during federal immigration operations in Minneapolis, a $220 million advertising campaign prominently featuring herself, and allegations of conflicts of interest involving government contracts.

She was also grilled about her reported relationship with top adviser Corey Lewandowski, allegations she dismissed as “tabloid garbage,” while her now-former husband — who has since been exposed as a member of an online cross-dressing community — sat just behind her.

Trump replaced her with then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) in March, moving Noem to a newly created position overseeing the Shield of the Americas initiative, and then to a role in the State Department.

4. Mike Waltz — National Security Adviser

Waltz committed one of the administration’s most astonishing security blunders last March when he accidentally invited The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg into a Signal group chat where senior officials discussed impending military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The ensuing “Signalgate” scandal only grew worse.

Politico subsequently revealed that Waltz’s team had at least 20 chats on the publicly available messaging app to discuss sensitive international crises, while The Washington Post reported that he had used personal Gmail for government communications, an allegation the National Security Council denied.

By May 2025, Waltz was out, though he was later named U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

5. Elon Musk — DOGE Boss

The world’s richest man arrived in Washington promising to slash government waste. He departed just months later, only to turn on Trump in a spectacularly public falling-out.

While clashing with the president over his “Big Beautiful Bill,” Musk accused Trump of appearing in the Epstein files in the summer of 2025, subsequently alleging that the administration was orchestrating a “cover up (obviously).”

His cost-cutting crusade also suffered a humiliating reckoning when the Government Accountability Office found just this past August that DOGE’s claimed savings were riddled with inaccuracies and unsupported figures.

Musk and Trump eventually reconciled, with the president calling him ” 80% super genius and 20% he’s got a little problem” on Wednesday.

6. Lori Chavez-DeRemer — Labor Secretary

Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure ended amid allegations that seemed better suited to a tabloid than a Cabinet department.

The former labor secretary resigned in April following reports of an inappropriate relationship with a member of her security detail.

A subsequent inspector general report found their relationship was “inappropriately close and unprofessional,” though investigators did not establish a romantic or sexual relationship.

The report also detailed an extraordinary strip club visit during which Chavez-DeRemer directed an uncomfortable limo driver of hers to drop cash onto a partially nude dancer.

Other reporting described requests for staffers to deliver alcohol to her hotel room, a booze “stash” in her desk, and allegations of sexual assault involving her husband — leading him to be barred from the department’s headquarters.

7. Kimberly Guilfoyle — Ambassador to Greece

Funnily enough, announcing Guilfoyle’s departure from her diplomatic role was one of the few things Zacharia accomplished during her short time on the job. As she explained, Trump asked his eldest son’s former fiancée to step down earlier this week following a string of deeply embarrassing Wall Street Journal reports.

The former Fox News host reportedly requested $100,000 for her American Express bill from Republican donor Eric Deters, promising political influence in return, and begging, “Honey please.”

She also allegedly bragged about “her close ties to two Greek tycoons,” adding that “they were bankrolling her high-rolling trips around the world.”

When confronted with damaging text messages, Guilfoyle reportedly insisted they were AI-generated. She denies all wrongdoing.

8. Thomas Fugate (Honorable Mention) 

And then there’s Trump loyalist Thomas Fugate, who was just 22 when he was tapped to oversee a DHS terrorism-prevention office last year, despite having no counterterrorism experience.

His previous employment included landscaping and working as a grocery clerk.

“It sounds like putting the intern in charge,” one counterterrorism researcher told ProPublica.

Unlike the seven others on this list, Fugate has managed to hang on to his job — at least so far.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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