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Hope HicksAmerican public relations consultant
Country:
 USA |
Content:
- Hope Hicks: Early Life and Career
- Hicks's Rise in Public Relations
- Press Secretary for the Trump Campaign
- Hope Hicks in the Trump Administration
- Hicks's Departure from the White House
- Personal Life
Hope Hicks: Early Life and Career
Hope Charlotte Hicks, an American public relations consultant, was born on October 21, 1988, in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Kay Ann (Cavender) Hicks and Paul Burton Hicks III. Her father served as the regional CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, a subsidiary of WPP Group, and as executive vice president for communications for the National Football League from 2010 to 2015 before becoming managing director of Glover Park Group.
As a teenager, Hicks pursued modeling and appeared in a 2002 feature in Greenwich Magazine. She modeled for a Ralph Lauren campaign alongside her older sister, Mary Grace, and graced the covers of the Hourglass Adventures series of novels about a young girl's time travels. Hope also modeled for the cover of Cecily von Ziegesar's 2005 novel The It Girl, the first in a popular series of its namesake.
Hicks attended Greenwich High School, where she captained the lacrosse team. She then enrolled at Southern Methodist University, where she majored in English and continued playing lacrosse. She graduated from university in 2010.
Hicks's Rise in Public Relations
Hicks began working at Hiltzik Strategies, a public relations firm, in 2012, after meeting the firm's founder at an NFL Super Bowl. During this period, she collaborated with Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's daughter, who was developing a new fashion line.
In August 2014, Hicks became a full-time employee of The Trump Organization. She reported to Trump Tower, where she assisted Ivanka in growing her fashion brand, Ivanka Trump Collection, and modeled for her online store. In October 2014, Hope began working directly for Trump.
Press Secretary for the Trump Campaign
In January 2015, Donald Trump selected the then-26-year-old Hope as the press secretary for his potential presidential campaign. She recalled, "Mr. Trump looked at me and said, 'I'm thinking about running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary.'" Hicks had no prior political connections or experience working on political campaigns.
After some initial victories, Trump insisted that Hope resign from The Trump Organization and dedicate all her time to the campaign. She initially refused, but Trump eventually convinced her to stay. As press secretary, Hicks handled up to 250 media requests per day and determined which reporters could interview Trump. She also transcribed Trump's quotes, which were then given to someone else to tweet. Reportedly, this was a period of strain in Hope's six-year relationship with her boyfriend.
Hope Hicks in the Trump Administration
On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Hicks would join the Trump administration under the newly created position of White House Director of Strategic Communications. In January 2017, Hope was included in Forbes's "30 Under 30," which recognized her as "an operative on Trump's history-making presidential campaign."
On August 16, 2017, Hicks became the interim White House Communications Director (the third to hold the position in less than six months, after Anthony Scaramucci and Sean Spicer, who lasted only ten and six months, respectively). Given the frequent shake-ups in the Trump administration, Politico dubbed the assistant "The Untouchable Hope Hicks" as she was considered one of the few White House officials not under threat of firing. On September 12, 2017, Hope was named the permanent White House Communications Director.
On February 27, 2018, Hope testified for nine hours in a closed-door hearing of the US Senate Intelligence Committee. She reportedly acknowledged that she had sometimes told "white lies" as Communications Director but declined to answer questions about her time at the White House during Trump's campaign.
Hicks's Departure from the White House
The following day, the White House confirmed to The New York Times that Hicks planned to resign from her position. According to "multiple sources," her resignation was prompted by events that had occurred within the past 24 hours. White House insiders claimed that Hope had privately contemplated leaving her position for months as she had become "burned out" from her role as an aide to Trump.
Despite the generous salary she earned, which reportedly was on par with that of some of the president's closest confidants, Hicks was keen to explore opportunities outside the White House. In his official statement, Trump praised Hicks's herculean efforts over her three years in the administration. He called her a "very special person with extraordinary talents" and said he would miss her, but looked forward to working with her again in the future.
Personal Life
Hope and her sister resided in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she also maintained an apartment in Manhattan. After Trump's election, Hicks moved to Washington, D.C. Hicks reportedly began dating Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski while he was still married to Allison Hardy. Hope later entered a relationship with White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter.
