Just days after she was ousted from her five-day tenure as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia is facing fresh scrutiny for posting pictures of herself with Trump that may have contained sensitive information.
Zacharia stepped into the role on Monday, but was quickly asked to resign on Friday, following a shaky performance during her first press briefing and revelations that she never passed the bar exam despite describing herself as an attorney.
The day she was ousted, Zacharia shared a gushing farewell post about Donald Trump on social media that included a picture of herself standing next to the president who was seated at his desk in the Oval Office.
On the desk was a conspicuously blurred map. Then, in a second post on Saturday picturing Zacharia and her family with the president, the map appeared to have been edited out of the photo.
The first picture drew questions and speculation, and the second photo only added fuel to the fire as people wondered why the map was digitally removed if it was insignificant.
Observers pointed out that the shape of the landmass on the map appeared to resemble East Potomac Park in Washington DC, which Trump has been eyeing as part of his goal to overhaul landmarks and federal properties in the nation's capital.
Trump in late June announced his intention to renovate the park's 'dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course' on Truth Social, but the plan has since been challenged by a lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League.
The administration has said that there is no final design for the golf course, but critics have perceived the map on Trump's desk as evidence to the contrary.
Katie Zacharia drew scrutiny for this photo she posted with Trump that shows a blurred map on his desk. Observers said it appeared similar in shape to East Potomac Park in Washington DC
In the second photo Zacharia posted, which included her husband and children, the map appears to have been edited out. People questioned why it was removed if it was insignificant
Zacharia served as White House press secretary for just five days after a shaky performance during her first press briefing
The advocacy group Save East Po, which is opposed to the renovation plan, retweeted Zacharia's post on Friday and wrote: 'FYI to anyone paying attention – that blurred out map on the PRESIDENT’S DESK is East Potomac Park'.
A follow-up tweet that included Zacharia's second photo with the map edited out said: 'Nothing says “we have no plan” like a photo of plan-shaped map on the President’s desk, followed by a second photo where that map has been digitally removed.'
Alex Rosen, the founder of Save East Po, told The Washington Post that details on the blurred map resemble previously circulated renderings of renovation plans for the park.
After more than 400 trees in East Potomac Park were felled, US District Judge Ana Reyes, earlier this week blocked the National Park Service from cutting down any more.
Trump administration lawyers have contended that the tree removals were not part of the president's golf course renovation initiative but instead part of a 2019 plan to restore the course to its original design.
Reyes, who is presiding over the lawsuit challenging the renovation, appeared sceptical of the government's argument in a court memorandum issued on Tuesday.
'It is a coincidence, the government seems to suggest, that DOI [Department of the Interior] cut down hundreds of trees at the course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years,' the judge wrote.
Those opposed to East Potomac Park's renovation perceive the blurred map on the president's desk as an indication that he intends to move forward with renovation plans despite the court challenge.
An advocacy group against renovating East Potomac Park said the map looked like a rendering of previously circulated renovation plans. The map and park pictured side by side
The National Park Service felled more than 400 trees at the park's golf course, claiming the work was part of a 2019 plan. A federal judge said she was suspicious of the timing
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung scoffed at those concerns in a statement claiming the Daily Mail was 'breathlessly obsessing over an innocuous photo' and suffering from 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'.
Zacharia similarly told the Daily Mail: 'It is only fitting that the Daily Mail would turn a very sweet picture into something controversial.'
Trump addressed his goal to renovate East Potomac Park in a Truth Social post on Sunday morning. It is unclear whether the announcement was related to the scrutiny surrounding Zacharia's posts.
'Doug Burgum, and the United States Department of the Interior, is very excited about the new Development of a Great Golf Course at the site of the old East Potomac Golf Links. We would like to thank Tom Fazio for his initial conceptual design and ideas, coupled with those of others from within the Golf World and the Department of the Interior,' the president wrote.
'Any variance or changes will be made, depending on site conditions, by the Experts in Parks and Recreation, whose experience and knowledge in Seawalls, Landscaping, and Design are second to none.'
Critics have pointed to Trump's history of pushing through major changes to Washington DC without oversight and have said they are concerned that the park is just the latest example.
The president demolished the White House East Wing to build a ballroom without Congressional approval, advanced plans for a 250ft arch on Columbia Island without final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission and added his name to the Kennedy Center.
All of those initiatives faced legal challenges. The Supreme Court ruled that construction of the White House ballroom can temporarily move forward, but the other two plans are currently in limbo.