Hope Hicks, who previously served as the communications chief and EVP in the Trump administration, has resigned. Although she did not announce any specific plans for the future in the media, she will now be leading the PR efforts for the television company.
In August 2017, Hicks was appointed to the position that was previously held by Scaramucci and Spicer Sean, the longest-serving political aide to the president. Following her resignation from her post as White House Director of Communications, she joined the White House as the deputy chief of staff for communications and assistant to the president, joining the investigating panel on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election after a 9-hour interview with former co-president of Fox News, Bill Shine.
The former model, who started working for the family through Ivanka’s fashion line, has rarely made public speeches since 2014. She had been by the president’s side, despite maintaining a relatively low profile. Unlike her predecessor, Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci, both Ivanka Trump and Hicks expressed their approval of him on Twitter.
Hope is a terrific person and will do a great job. Wishing her the best.
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) August 16, 2017
Congratulations to my talented friend & colleague Hope Hicks on being named WH Communications Director. I know she will do an amazing job!
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 17, 2017
Pursuing acting and modeling as her childhood aspirations, her affiliations with the Trump dynasty, and her lack of prior political experience, everything about Hicks, an unusual case, undoubtedly contributed to her low-key presence in an administration that is known for its extravagance.
1. Prior to her employment with Donald Trump, Hicks was involved in public relations for Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand.
Hiltzik Strategies, a PR firm, was the destination for Hicks in New York after completing her studies at Southern Methodist University. In 2012, she was tasked with a project for one of the company’s clients, the Ivanka Trump brand. Soon after in 2014, she joined the Trump brand internally and was also showcased on the Ivanka Trump label’s blog in a mint-colored dress that was ideal for hopping “on the shuttle to D.C. To handle media coverage for our upcoming hotel and return to NYC in time for drinks with my boyfriend without needing to change.”
2. She regularly refuses to be interviewed.
When she first started working on the Trump campaign in 2015, she may have shared her boss’s burning hatred for the media or perhaps she has been scarred by witnessing her boss’s multitude of moments where she puts her foot in her mouth. According to The Washington Post, she reported that she declined an interview for one of the first profiles about her role in the campaign.
Instead, Hicks arranged a chance to speak with writer Olivia Nuzzi in 2016, but she declined to do an interview with her, as reported by GQ. Trump described the 28-year-old former aide as “absolutely terrific,” but also called his most trite interview.
i think i can honestly say this is the first time i’ve heard hope hicks speak pic.twitter.com/HuidZhCNVk
— David Mack (@davidmackau) December 17, 2016
3. She was a teenage model with dreams of pursuing a career in acting.
The most memorable thing was that she appeared on the cover of a popular YA novel, which was a spinoff of the TV series Girl Gossip. In the cover story, she talked about her sister’s teen modeling career and her own aspirations to be an actress. She mentioned that if she hadn’t worked in politics, she could have seen herself working in the modeling industry. This was revealed in an ad for Lauren Ralph in her hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut, where she grew up with dreams of becoming an actress.
Omg I just heard that hope hicks the new communications director is the girl from the cover of the it girl. Middle school me is so confused pic.twitter.com/WR7OpcuC36
— Asha Xamdi (@ashaxamdi) August 17, 2017
4. Her father served as a politician in her hometown and was even bestowed with a day dedicated to his honor.
During the oil crisis in the 1970s, her grandfather served as the head of public relations for Texaco. The Hicks family has a rich legacy of being in the public spotlight; her father, who used to be a town selectman, was acknowledged for his charitable acts and was honored with his own special holiday earlier this year. In Greenwich, April 23 is designated as Paul B. Hicks III Day.
5. She was in the top salary category of Trump’s assistants, which means she earned the same amount as Kellyanne Conway.
Hicks, like many millennials, occasionally retreats to her parents’ home in Greenwich when she gets a reprieve from life in D.C., According to a White House release. It is worth noting that she is not dependent on her family, although she made $179,700, which placed her among the highest-ranking aides of Trump.
6. The president and his group enjoyed giving her nicknames.
According to Politico, even after three years, Sam Nunberg, one of former Trump’s aides who was fired in 2016 after being charged racially, found posts on his liked profile on Facebook that referred to him as “Trump” and called him “Mr. Hicks,” but she still calls him “Hopester,” the nickname given to him by the president.
Hicks said Nunberg was very anxious about the campaign because she was extremely cute. “I’m like Don Draper, I’m like Peggy, and once I joked with her…”
7:30 in the morning, March 1st: This article has been revised to demonstrate Hicks’ departure.