- Hope Hicks was the youngest-ever White House communications director.
- Next, she’ll be taking on the role of chief communications officer at Fox, Business Insider reported.
- She got her start promoting Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand, before earning Donald Trump’s trust and becoming a part of his inner circle.
Hope Hicks was the youngest person to ever hold the position of White House communications director.
After she resigned from the White House in February of 2018, it was initially unclear how she’d follow up her run as one of US President Donald Trump’s top confidants.
On October 8, however, it was announced that Hicks will be joining the team at Fox as the chief communications officer. She’ll run public relations for Fox News, Fox Sports, and Fox Business, Business Insider reported.
During her tenure in the White House, Hicks was embroiled in a number of controversies. She previously admitted to telling “white lies” on behalf of the president, during an eight-hour testimony to the House Intelligence Committee.
Hicks was also romantically linked to former White House staff secretary Rob Porter. When Porter's two ex-wives went on the record alleging that Porter had a history of domestic abuse, Hicks reportedly helped Chief of Staff John Kelly craft a statement defending him.
She was also interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team regarding Russian interference in the US election.
Hicks had zero experience in politics before joining the Trump campaign in 2015. The New York Times reported the Greenwich, Connecticut native was "the third generation of her family to represent a powerful but highly controversial client." Her father ran PR for a tobacco company and the NFL, while her grandfather represented Texaco during the energy crisis in the 1970s.
"My father has been a huge influence on me, starting with introducing me to lacrosse, then a career in public relations and now politics," Hicks told Lacrosse Magazine.
Here's a look back at her career:
Growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, Hicks swam, and played golf and lacrosse.
Source: New York Times, NPR
At Greenwich High School, she became captain of the varsity lacrosse team, which ultimately won a state championship.
Source: New York Times, NPR
She also landed modeling jobs for television commercials, Ralph Lauren, and Vogue. Ford Modeling Agency represented Hicks and her sister Marcy Grace.
Source: New York Times, NPR
Hicks dreamt of becoming an actor. The New York Times reported she even "read lines for a film role with Alec Baldwin."
Source: New York Times, NPR
At the age of 13, Hicks told Greenwich Magazine she wanted to pursue acting, but could see herself in politics.
Source: New York Times, NPR
After graduating from Southern Methodist University, CNN reported Hicks landed a job at PR firm Hiltzik Strategies in 2012 after meeting founder Matthew Hiltzik at an NFL Super Bowl event.
Source: CNN, Marist, PR Week, New York Times
According to the New York Times, however, the interview with Hiltzik was set up after Hicks and her father met Alec Baldwin at the Super Bowl.
Source: CNN, Marist, PR Week, New York Times
Some of Hitzik's clients have included Baldwin, Justin Bieber, Katie Couric, Glenn Beck, and Manti Te'o.
Source: CNN, Marist, PR Week, New York Times
Hicks worked on the firm's Ivanka Trump account, and reportedly impressed her boss. "Hope is an independent thinker who uses proper discretion and is always looking to learn and improve," Hiltzik told PR Week.
Source: CNN, Marist, PR Week, New York Times
Ivanka Trump ultimately poached Hicks in 2014, hiring her to work on her namesake lifestyle brand.
Source: GQ, New York Times
GQ reported the two became close, with Hicks even "dressing like the heiress."
Source: GQ, New York Times
Ivanka Trump later told The New York Times that Hicks also went on to earn her father's trust.
Source: GQ, New York Times
When Trump first called Hicks to his office, she reportedly didn't realize he was planning to run for president.
Source: Business Insider, The Washington Post
Instead, she thought he was asking her to run a press campaign for one of his golf clubs.
Source: Business Insider, The Washington Post
"No, my presidential campaign!" Trump said, according to the Washington Post. "I’m running for president."
Source: Business Insider, The Washington Post
During the campaign, New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman reported Trump gave Hicks, along with Lewandowski, a free apartment in a Trump building.
Source: New York Magazine, Business Insider, Business Insider
"Hicks spends most of her day sitting in Trump's office with her laptop, fielding press inquiries and taking dictation from him to tweet," he wrote.
Source: New York Magazine, Business Insider, Business Insider
But, according to a new tell-all book written by former aides David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski, US President Donald Trump reportedly wasn't always convinced that the 29-year-old was the right person for the job.
Source: "Let Trump Be Trump"
Lewandowski writes the now-president once told him that Hicks had "as much experience as a coffee cup." Lewandowski said he countered that she "was good looking." "That always helps," Trump reportedly responded.
Source: "Let Trump Be Trump"
In an interview for GQ, Trump told Olivia Nuzzi he was impressed by Hicks' ability to field so many press inquiries.
Source: GQ
"She gets a call a minute, probably," he said.
Source: GQ
He said he didn't see a benefit to her "outsider status" and lack of experience, but added, "She was very natural when it comes to picking it up, and a lot of people can't pick it up, because it's so fast-moving."
On the campaign trail, Hicks was also tasked with steaming Trump's suit and pants while he was wearing them. "She'd steam the jacket first and then sit in a chair in front of him and steam his pants," Lewandowski and Bossie wrote.
Source: Business Insider
Lewandowski said Hicks was "smart and private, with a nearly photographic memory."
Source: Business Insider
After Anthony Scaramucci was fired from his post as communications director in August 2017, Hicks was named interim director.
Source: CNBC, New York Times
"Hope is a terrific person and will do a great job. Wishing her the best," Scaramucci wrote in a tweet. Hicks was formally appointed communications director on September 12.
Source: CNBC, New York Times
Along with top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, Hicks brought in an annual salary of $179,700 — the maximum pay for any of Trump's aides.
Source: The White House
New York Magazine reported Hicks' mother previously told her to write a book about her experience in the campaign, along the lines of "Primary Colors," a fictionalization about Bill Clinton's presidential campaign.
Source: New York Magazine
"I told her, 'You don't even know,'" Hicks told New York Magazine.
Source: New York Magazine
Special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly interviewed Hicks as part of the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Daily Mail.
Source: Business Insider, The Daily Mail, Business Insider
Business Insider reported she hired attorney Robert Trout to represent her in the investigation.
Source: Business Insider, The Daily Mail, Business Insider
She became a central figure in the controversy around Porter, with whom she was allegedly romantically linked.
Source: Business Insider, Business Insider, Business Insider, Business Insider, Business Insider
In an interview with Marie Claire, Hicks stressed her belief in hard work and passion, which she said she learned from her father, Donald Trump, and Ivanka Trump.
Source: Marie Claire
"If you work hard and you work for somebody who empowers you and challenges you, you'll be successful."
Source: Marie Claire
Hicks had reportedly been considering leaving the White House for months before she stepped away in February of 2018, according to The New York Times.
Source: Business Insider, The New York Times
In response to her departure, Trump released a statement saying, "I will miss having her by my side, but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future."
Source: Business Insider, The New York Times
Hicks was just named as the executive vice president and chief communications officer of the so-called "New Fox." She'll run public relations for "New Fox" — the cluster of Fox brands that aren't included in the company's sale to Disney, Business Insider reported.
Source: Business Insider
