Hope Hicks

Hope Charlotte Hicks (born October 21, 1988) is an American public relations executive and political advisor who served in President Donald Trump’s administration from 2017 to 2018 and 2020 to 2021.

Hicks was a teenage model, appearing in Greenwich magazine in 2002.

She then posed for a Ralph Lauren campaign with her older sister Mary Grace, and was the face of the Hourglass Adventures novels about a time-traveling 10-year-old.

She was the cover model for The It Girl (2005), the first novel in the series by Cecily von Ziegesar.

Hicks attended Greenwich High School, a part of the public Greenwich school system, where she was co-captain of the lacrosse team and graduated in 2006.

She then attended Southern Methodist University, where she majored in English and played on a club lacrosse program she helped start.

Her father was Regional CEO, Americas, of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, and executive vice president of communications for the National Football League from 2010 to 2015, before becoming managing director of the Glover Park Group.

Her family had a history in government administration: her mother was an administrative aide to Ed Jones, a Democratic congressman from Tennessee; her maternal grandfather, G. W. F. "Dutch" Cavender, worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an administrator during two different administrations; and her maternal grandmother, Marilee Cavender, worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

She graduated in 2010.

Hicks began in public relations with the New York City firm Zeno Group.

She joined public relations firm Hiltzik Strategies in 2012, after meeting the firm's founder at a Super Bowl event, and worked there for Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, on her fashion line, and then on other Trump ventures.

In August 2014, Hicks joined the Trump Organization full-time.

She worked for Ivanka Trump inside Trump Tower, helping expand her fashion label (the Ivanka Trump Collection) and modeling for her online store.

In October 2014, she began working directly for Donald Trump.

In January 2015, Donald Trump chose Hicks, who was 26 at the time, for the role of press secretary for his potential presidential campaign.

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. Until that time, she had never worked in politics or volunteered on a campaign. 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.

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.

Hicks also took dictation from Trump for his tweets, and then sent the text to another person in the Trump organization who sent the tweets from Trump's official account.

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.

From there, she became press secretary and early communications director for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign, shifting to national press secretary for the presidential transition team before joining the Trump Administration.

On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Hicks would become part of the Trump administration, in the newly created position of the White House director of strategic communications.

She served as White House director of strategic communications from January to September 2017, as White House communications director from 2017 to 2018, and returned to serve as a counselor to the president from 2020 to 2021.

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 of the Trump Organization.

On August 16, 2017, she was appointed as the interim White House communications director (the last director having been Anthony 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.

She was appointed permanent White House communications director on September 12, 2017.

When Hicks resigned the Administration in March 2018, she was Trump's longest-serving political aide.

After her resignation, she was Fox Corporation's chief communications officer and executive vice president.

She returned to the White House as Counselor to President Trump in March 2020, before departing for the final time on January 13, 2021.

Hicks is the daughter of Caye Ann (Cavender) Hicks and Paul Burton Hicks III.

She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut.

On February 27, 2018, Hicks gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to the House 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.

The next day the White House confirmed to The New York Times that Hicks planned to resign.

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.

She officially resigned on March 29, 2018.

Between March 2018 and March 2020, Hicks was Fox Corporation's chief communications officer and executive vice president.

During this time, she made over $1.8 million.

In February 2020, it was announced that Hicks would return to the White House Office as an aide to Jared Kushner and counselor to President Donald Trump.