Hope Hicks | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hicks onAir Force One in 2017 | |
| Counselor to the President | |
| In office March 9, 2020 – January 12, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Johnny DeStefano |
| Succeeded by | Steve Ricchetti Jeff Zients |
| White House Communications Director | |
| In office September 12, 2017 – March 29, 2018 Acting: August 16, 2017 – September 12, 2017 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Anthony Scaramucci |
| Succeeded by | Bill Shine |
| 1stWhite House Director of Strategic Communications | |
| In office January 20, 2017 – September 12, 2017 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Mercedes Schlapp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hope Charlotte Hicks (1988-10-21)October 21, 1988 (age 36) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Southern Methodist University (BA) |
Hope Charlotte Hicks[1] (born October 21, 1988) is an Americanpublic relations executive and political advisor who served inPresidentDonald Trump’sadministration from 2017 to 2018 and 2020 to 2021. She served asWhite House director of strategic communications from January to September 2017, asWhite House communications director from 2017 to 2018,[2][3] and returned to serve as acounselor to the president from 2020 to 2021.[4]
Hicks was a teenage model before following her father into a career in media and communications. After college and a couple of years' work in public relations, she became an employee ofthe Trump Organization. From there, she becamepress secretary and early communications director for theTrump 2016 presidential campaign, shifting to national press secretary for thepresidential transition team[5][6] before joining the Trump Administration. When Hicks resigned from the Administration in March 2018, she was Trump's longest-serving political aide.[7][8] After her resignation, she wasFox Corporation'schief communications officer and executive vice president.[9][10] She returned to the White House as counselor to President Trump in March 2020 before departing for the final time on January 13, 2021.[11]
Hicks is the daughter of Caye Ann (Cavender) Hicks and Paul Burton Hicks III.[12] She grew up inGreenwich, Connecticut.[13][14] Her father was Regional CEO, Americas,[15] ofOgilvy Public Relations Worldwide, and executive vice president of communications for theNational Football League from 2010 to 2015, before becoming managing director ofthe Glover Park Group.[5][13][16][17][18] Her family had a history in government administration: her mother was an administrative aide toEd Jones, a Democratic congressman from Tennessee; her maternal grandfather, G. W. F. "Dutch" Cavender, worked in theU.S. Department of Agriculture as an administrator during two different administrations; and her maternal grandmother, Marilee Cavender, worked at theU.S. Department of Transportation.[19]
Hicks was a teenage model, appearing inGreenwich magazine in 2002.[7] She then posed for aRalph Lauren campaign with her older sister Mary Grace, and was the face of theHourglass Adventures novels about a time-traveling 10-year-old.[7] She was the cover model forThe It Girl (2005), the first novel in the series byCecily von Ziegesar.[20]
Hicks attendedGreenwich High School, a part of the public Greenwich school system, where she was co-captain of thelacrosse team and graduated in 2006.[14][21][22] She then attendedSouthern Methodist University, where she majored in English and played on a club lacrosse program she helped start. She graduated in 2010.[7][14][23]
Hicks began inpublic relations with the New York City firm Zeno Group.[18] She joined public relations firmHiltzik Strategies in 2012, after meeting the firm's founder at aSuper Bowl event, and worked there forDonald Trump's daughterIvanka Trump, on her fashion line, and then on other Trump ventures.[14][24]
In August 2014, Hicks joinedthe Trump Organization full time.[16] She worked for Ivanka Trump insideTrump Tower, helping expand her fashion label (the Ivanka Trump Collection) and modeling for her online store.[25] In October 2014, she began working directly for Donald Trump.[26]
In January 2015, Donald Trump chose Hicks, who was 26 at the time, for the role ofpress secretary for his potential presidential campaign.[27] Trump summoned her to his office and, as she tells it, "Mr. Trump looked at me and said, 'I'm thinking about running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary.'"[25] Until that time, she had never worked in politics or volunteered on a campaign.[28] After Trump's first primary victories, Hicks was asked to choose between staying with the Trump Organization or working on the campaign full time. She initially decided to leave the campaign, but Trump convinced her to remain and she stayed on as press secretary.[14]
During the campaign, she played the role of gatekeeper to press members who wanted to speak with Trump, handling over 250 requests a day and deciding which reporters would be allowed to speak with him.[13][28] Hicks also took dictation from Trump for histweets, and then sent the text to another person in the Trump organization who sent the tweets from Trump's official account.[25][29] When in New York City, she would spend most of her day in Trump's office, handling inquiries from the press and taking dictation from him to tweet.[27] In January 2017, Hicks was included on theForbes 30 Under 30 list, having "served as a one-woman press team" for Trump's presidential campaign.[30]
On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Hicks would become part of theTrump administration, in the newly created position of theWhite House director of strategic communications.
On August 16, 2017, she was appointed as the interimWhite House communications director (the last director having beenAnthony Scaramucci).Politico labeled her the "Untouchable Hope Hicks," as she was considered one of the few White House officials whose job was safe, and one of only two White House communications officials Scaramucci had announced were definitely staying when he was first hired.[31] She was appointed permanent White House communications director on September 12, 2017.[32]
On February 27, 2018, Hicks gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to theHouse Intelligence Committee. She acknowledged that she sometimes had to tell "white lies" in her work as communications director, but refused to answer any questions about her tenure in the White House.[33] The next day the White House confirmed toThe New York Times that Hicks planned to resign.[34] According to "multiple sources," she had been planning to resign for months, and her announcement was unrelated to the events of the preceding 24 hours.[35] She officially resigned on March 29, 2018.[36]
Between March 2018 and March 2020, Hicks wasFox Corporation'schief communications officer and executive vice president.[9][10] During this time, she made over $1.8 million.[37]
On March 4, 2019, theHouse Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Hicks requesting information regarding alleged obstruction of justice by the current administration.[38] (She was mentioned over 180 times inRobert Mueller's report on Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice; the report was released on April 18, 2019.)[39] The Committee subpoenaed documents and her testimony on May 21, 2019.[40] On June 4, 2019, the Trump White House invoked executive privilege, directing Hicks not to provide any documents related to her employment in the Trump administration.[41] She agreed to testify in a closed-door session on June 19, 2019,[42] during which lawyers for the Trump administration forbade Hicks from answering questions 155 times, claiming that due to "absolute immunity," Hicks "may not speak about anything that occurred during the time of her employment in the White House as a close adviser to the president."[43][44] Hicks testified on the scheduled date, and also complied with the White House request to not answer questions.[45][46][47][48]
On July 18, 2019, unredacted search warrant documents from theMichael Cohen criminal case were released, and it appeared a strong possibility that Hicks had known about hush payments made by Michael Cohen on behalf of Donald Trump before the dates she had previously claimed.[49]
In February 2020, it was announced that Hicks would return to theWhite House Office as an aide toJared Kushner and counselor to PresidentDonald Trump.[4] She officially assumed her roles at the White House on March 9.[50]
On June 1, 2020, during theGeorge Floyd protests in Washington, Hicks and others suggested that Trumpwalk to St. John's Episcopal Church go across the street from the White House to make a public appearance. Law enforcement subsequently usedtear gas and otherriot control tactics to forcefully clear peaceful protesters fromLafayette Square and surrounding streets, creating a path for PresidentDonald Trump and senior administration officials, including Hicks, to the church.[51] It was later reported Hicks had suggested Trump say a prayer at this appearance, but he held up a Bible instead.[52]
On October 1, 2020, it was announced thatHicks had tested positive forCOVID-19.[53][54] Because of her positive test and her recent travels with the president, President Trump and first ladyMelania Trump were also tested. Hours later, Trump announced that both he and Melania had tested positive and would immediately go into quarantine at the White House.[55][56][57]
The New York Times reported in June 2022 that, in the weeks after the 2020 election Trump insisted had been stolen from him, some of his aides quietly disagreed with him. Hicks advised Trump to move on, leading him to say, "Well, Hope doesn’t believe in me," to which she replied, "No, I don’t. Nobody’s convinced me otherwise." She disappeared from public view in the final weeks of Trump's presidency.[58]
On October 25, 2022, Hicks sat for a "transcribed interview" with theUnited States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[59][60] Part of the interview, which was videotaped, was televised during the committee's December 19, 2022, public hearing. It featured Hicks stating that during a conversation about his legacy, Trump told her "something along the lines of 'nobody will care about my legacy if I lose ... the only thing that matters is winning.'"[61][62]
On April 1, 2024, it was reported Hicks would testify for the prosecution in the Trump hush money criminal trial.[63] On May 3, 2024, she did so.[64] She provided some detail on Trump's relationship with formerAmerican Media Inc. headDavid Pecker during the2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and also on how Trump wanted his alleged affairs withStormy Daniels andKaren McDougal covered up to avoid embarrassment against him and his family in the wake of theAccess Hollywoodtape release.[64][65]
In November, Hicks stated her intention of voting for Donald Trump in the2024 presidential election.[66]
Before Trump's 2016 election, Hicks split her time betweenGreenwich andManhattan. When Trump was elected, she moved toWashington, D.C.[22][27][28]
Hicks was datingRob Porter,White House staff secretary for Trump, at the time of Porter's 2018 resignation.[67]
In May 2024, Hicks got engaged toJim Donovan, aGoldman Sachs investment banker.[68][69]
At age 11 she and her older sister were hired to model for Ralph Lauren. Soon she was in the pages of national magazines and had a cameo on the soap opera Guiding Light. She became the face of the Hourglass Adventures, a series of novels for preteen girls featuring a 10-year-old who travels back in time.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | White House Director of Communications 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
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