Katie Zacharia was “let go” as White House press secretary on Friday, a White House official said, five days into a tenure dominated by questions over her claimed legal career in China, where she said she had passed a bar exam.
Her exit came on the same day Beijing invited her to visit China more often, responding to her remark that the country “doesn’t even have proper toilets”.
US President Donald Trump said he had urged her to reconsider the job but denied firing her.
“I told her: ‘I think you’re better off being happy, and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.’ There’s nothing easy about this stuff,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before flying to Georgia for a campaign rally.