Donald Trump Sidelined Susie Wiles With Personal Pick of Katie Zacharia as Source Exposes Growing White House Tensions: 'He's Taking Back Control'

President is reportedly facing fresh White House tensions after bypassing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to personally select Katie Zacharia as the administration's new press secretary.

The move has allegedly fueled questions about Wiles’ influence in the West Wing, while Zacharia is already facing criticism following a rocky first appearance at the White House podium.

Zacharia made her debut on Tuesday, October 13, taking just three questions from Trump-friendly media outlets. Her performance reportedly left some White House insiders unimpressed, with one source warning that she could have an even shorter tenure than Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired as White House communications director after just 10 days during Trump’s first term.

“Getting behind the podium is tough, but she got off on the wrong foot. She needs to get much better, fast, otherwise she'll break Scaramucci's record,” an anonymous White House official told MS NOW correspondent Jake Traylor.

Another insider was even more blunt about Zacharia’s debut, telling MS NOW’s Peter Alexander, “It was a trainwreck.”

Trump reportedly decided on Zacharia within 72 hours after enjoying her appearances on Fox News, bypassing Wiles entirely.

Trump’s choice of Zakaria was seen as a direct snub to Susie, according to an anonymous administration source who told the Daily Mail, “This is seen as one of many recent microaggressions of Donald to Susie. He is taking back control, and it is starting to feel more like the first term.”

The Zacharia situation follows a pattern of Trump blindsiding his chief of staff. In August, reporting revealed that Wiles learned of Trump's major appointment of Richard "Lance" Schroyer to lead ICE only when she saw the announcement on Truth Social.

Trump had quietly met with Sen. Markwayne Mullin to complete the pick while Wiles was out of town attending her daughter's wedding.

Apparently, Wiles was pushing for CNN commentator Scott Jennings to replace Karoline Leavitt as press secretary after she resigned in August following the birth of her second child.

"Susie wanted someone who would be loyal to her, and instead Trump chose someone loyal to him, as it should be,” a source told Daily Mail.

Critics and political observers widely described Zacharia’s public media debut as awkward, robotic and problematic.

Her debut comes as reports emerged detailing that the 41-year-old mother-of-four had deleted several highly controversial social media posts right before being tapped for the position.

Investigative reporting from The Bulwark revealed archived tweets where Zacharia had previously called for the U.S. to "suspend habeas corpus," suggested the federal government should "take over all of California," and, according to independent journalist Judd Legum, promoted various conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate, which ludicrously alleged a Democratic child trafficking ring by Hillary Clinton emerging from a DC pizzeria.

As for Wiles, this isn't the first time she's been frustrated by her boss.

In a highly publicized series of interviews with author Chris Whipple for Vanity Fair, she described Trump as having "an alcoholic’s personality," noting that even though Trump is famously a teetotaler, his behavior mirrors traits she recognized from her late father, broadcaster Pat Summerall, who struggled with alcoholism.