Katie Zacharia Is Out as White House Press Secretary

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Alex Ossola (0:19)

Katie Zacharia is out as press secretary. Plus, as Russian attacks encroach on NATO territory, the alliance has to walk a tightrope.

Dan Michaels (0:27)

NATO political leaders are trying to find measures that Russia will pay attention to, but that are one, within the laws of war, but also kind of steps on its toe in a way that it notices and says, hmm, okay, we need to back off.

Alex Ossola (0:48)

And high fuel prices aren't hitting Americans equally, with potentially big implications for the midterms. It's Friday, October 16th. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Katie Zacharia's time as White House press secretary has come to an end just a week after President Trump announced her appointment to the role. That's according to people familiar with the matter. Earlier today, before leaving the White House for a rally in Georgia, President Trump told reporters that he had talked to Zacharia.

Donald Trump (1:26)

And I just spoke to her about it. I said, Katie, is this for you? Because she's been treated very rough and she's a nice person, very nice person. I've watched her for years on television, but I said, is this for you, Katie, because honestly, you don't need this. You don't have to be treated.

Alex Ossola (1:44)

Zacharia's first press briefing Tuesday was shaky. And earlier this week, the journal reported that Zacharia isn't a licensed lawyer and didn't pass the bar exam. Even though she repeatedly referred to herself as a lawyer and Trump called her an attorney in announcing her appointment. A White House official said the president hadn't hired Zacharia to work on legal matters. A person familiar with the plans said Zacharia will be transitioning to a new role that will be announced at a later date. Separately, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump administration looking to block New York City sanctuary laws. A US District Court judge in Brooklyn rejected a Trump administration lawsuit looking to force local law enforcement to transfer detained migrants directly into federal custody. The judge ruled that forcing local officials to assist in federal immigration enforcement would violate federalism and the 10th Amendment by illegally taking control of city agencies. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling. The ruling bolsters New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani's efforts to reign in ICE operations in the city following a shooting involving federal immigration agents last week.

In Markets, tech stocks fell sharply today, finishing their worst week since June. AI-related shares came under new pressure, pushing the NASDAQ down 2.1%.

For the week, it dropped 4.5%.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% today and about 2% for the week, and the Dow slid 0.3%, but still rose for the week. Core-weave shares came under renewed pressure today, falling almost 12%.

Meanwhile, benchmark treasuries just had their best week since before the start of the war in Iran. Yields on 10-year treasury notes have dropped 0.146 percentage points this week, their largest weekly decline since the week ending February 13th. This week's tech sell-off saw investors pivot to safer assets, boosting treasury prices. And oil is up again, with Brent crude ending the trading session at $109.86 a barrel. That's up 3.7% from yesterday and its highest level since May. Speaking of energy, prices are up all over the US., but the surge is hitting some regions harder than others, and that could have consequences for next month's midterm elections. Journal Economics reporter Konrad Putzier is here now with more. Konrad, earlier this week we had you on the show talking about how rising fuel costs were the main driver behind inflation, which rose 3.7% last month. But just how much fuel prices have risen varies across the US. Why are there these differences?

Konrad Putzier (4:13)

So there's two reasons, right? The first one is price increases by states vary, and it depends on what kind of refineries a state has and how much it costs to transport gasoline to gas stations in your state. And the second big factor here is how much gasoline and diesel people actually consume. If you live in New York and you take the subway to work, the price of gasoline has increased a lot in your state, but you don't care because you take the subway. But if you live in Wyoming and you drive a Ford F-150 around all day, you're going to care a lot because you consume a lot of gasoline.