Beijing didn't let the toilet comment slide. On Friday, Mao Ning, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, looked the press corps in the eye and suggested Katie Zacharia, the White House's new press secretary, should take advantage of her upcoming trip to China. "We welcome her to visit China more often when she has the opportunity," Mao said, barely concealing a smile.
The jab came less than a week into Zacharia's tenure. In an interview with right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec, the 41-year-old recalled her 2016 observations from China. "I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, 'How is China the next country on the horizon? They don't even have proper toilets,'" Zacharia said. She is scheduled to visit the country next month.
This exchange lands in a volatile diplomatic landscape. President Donald Trump touts a "great relationship" with President Xi Jinping, having met him twice this year, yet ties remain strained over trade, technology, and Taiwan. Zacharia's remarks, however, pushed the discourse into uncharted, personal territory.
Zacharia is already navigating significant professional headwinds. Her debut before the White House press corps drew sharp criticism; she struggled to answer basic questions and, at one point, mistakenly referred to her husband as the president. Doubts about her legal status have also surfaced. She lists herself as general counsel for a California nonprofit and claims prior work at a Beijing law firm, but gave an inconclusive answer about where she passed the bar exam. She admitted she registered for the exam but was "distracted and overwhelmed" by her move to China, and did not retake it after returning to the US due to the birth of her first child.
With Zacharia's Beijing visit scheduled for next month, tensions are poised to rise further. The diplomatic corps will be watching closely to see if the "visit more often" invitation translates into substantive engagement or further public spats.