Commentator Katie Zacharia picked as new White House press secretary

President Donald Trump has chosen conservative commentator Katie Zacharia to be the next White House press secretary.

Zacharia, who currently works for Trump Media & Technology Group, will become the president's sixth chief spokesperson across his two administrations. She previously had a brief stint as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In a social media post on Friday, Trump called Zacharia "loyal" and "a devoted fan and member of MAGA", referring to his Make America Great Again movement, adding she "has an unblemished record of support".

Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who left the White House in August, has reportedly taken a job with Fox News.

"She was previously involved in my Campaigns, assisting in key Swing States, where we won 7 out of 7," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next White House Press Secretary, as she has the respect of, and will work fantastically with, the Media, the American People, and my Administration."

The BBC has contacted Zacharia for comment.

The 42-year-old political strategist is a frequent fixture on conservative Newsmax and Fox News, and has been active in Republican politics for most of her adult life, having worked as an intern for the Republican National Committee and for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Bush administration in 2006.

Since June, she has been a senior communications adviser for Trump's media company and Truth Social platform, according to her LinkedIn profile. She worked in Homeland Security from February to March this year.

While she was only briefly in government at DHS - which she later said she left because of the strain of travel between California and Washington on her family - she has long been a ferocious defender of President Trump and his administration's policies.

In a June interview with the BBC, for example, she dismissed criticism of Trump's controversial use of the White House to host a televised UFC fight, saying the principles of the UFC "are the kind of principles that founded our Constitutional Republic".

"It's about not giving up the fight until the bitter end," she said. "I think there's no better summation of the American ethos than a good UFC fight."

A lawyer educated at Pepperdine University in California, Zacharia also served as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative non-profit started by Trump ally - and current Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions - Ric Grenell.

In 2011, she spent nearly two years clerking at a law firm in Beijing, China.

The complex job of press secretary goes beyond the briefing room podium to include managing contentious relationships with the press, coordinating with other parts of the White House, and providing media advice to the president. The secretary also oversees an office that receives a significant amount of inquiries and requests on a daily basis.

Trump called Leavitt one of his "most trusted aides" when she left the role, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family, which set a high bar for her replacement.

A lawyer educated at Pepperdine University in California, Zacharia, 42, has four children. She has also worked as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative advocacy group headed by Trump ally Ric Grenell.