Trump women: Hope Hicks

Hicks’ instinctual defense of the president is emblematic of how she views her role in the White House: as someone who deeply understands Trump but also understands why, in her mind, people misunderstand him. The polite, soft-spoken 28-year-old newbie to Washington politics holds the lofty title of director of strategic communications, pulls down the top White House salary of $179,700 — the same as strategist Steve Bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus — but operates outside of any organizational chart. She is protected, in a world of rival power centers, by the deep bond she shares with the man at the top. He affectionately refers to her as “Hopester.” She still calls him “Mr. Trump.” And she views her job, ultimately, as someone who is installed where she is in order to help, but not change, the leader of the free world. Hicks’ instinctual defense of the president is emblematic of how she views her role in the White House: as someone who deeply understands Trump but also understands why, in her mind, people misunderstand him. The polite, soft-spoken 28-year-old newbie to Washington politics holds the lofty title of director of strategic communications, pulls down the top White House salary of $179,700 — the same as strategist Steve Bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus — but operates outside of any organizational chart. She is protected, in a world of rival power centers, by the deep bond she shares with the man at the top. He affectionately refers to her as “Hopester.” She still calls him “Mr. Trump.” And she views her job, ultimately, as someone who is installed where she is in order to help, but not change, the leader of the free world. Hope Hicks was the press secretary for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. She was, as you might imagine, crazy busy: traveling with Trump, responding to the tidal wave of media requests, and helping the candidate with his prolific tweeting. "I haven't really been home since Thanksgiving," she told New York magazine last year. Porter, 40, had been living with the willowy blonde political appointee, who split with him around Thanksgiving, after discovering suggestive text messages between Porter and White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of Trump's closest and most trusted advisors. The shocking book also attributes quotes to Trump that allegedly involved Hope Hicks and her rumored adulterous affair with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. According to Raw Story, Trump told Hope that she didn’t need to worry about making Corey feel better about bad press he was receiving at the moment, because Hicks allegedly had done enough for Lewandowski by reportedly being romantically involved with him. President Trump is reportedly blaming his communications director, Hope Hicks, for the unfolding scandal involving former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who resigned this week after being credibly accused of abuse by two of his ex-wives. Trump is "increasingly frustrated" with Hicks for a "myriad of reasons," CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported Friday, including that he was allegedly "not consulted when Hicks and several other top aides ... at the White House drafted that first statement initially that defended Rob Porter." "Secondly," Collins said, "the president feels that Hope Hicks has allowed her romantic relationship with Porter to really cloud her judgment and her decision-making here." The report caught many by surprise, especially since Chief of Staff John Kelly was the one to hire Porter. Kelly additionally did not fire Porter after learning he was not going to be given security clearance, Politico reports. Trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told Fox News on Friday: "The general is there to put in policies and processes and procedures, and in this case those didn't work and we need to find out why. He's blaming Hope Hicks ... "The president feels that Hope Hicks has allowed her romantic relationship with Porter to really cloud her judgment and her decision-making ... that Hope Hicks put her own priorities above his and above the White House's." http://people.com/tag/don From a public-relations perspective, there would never be a right moment to leave, but public relations as it’s traditionally understood had almost no relevance in this White House. By Sunday, her gut had decided for her what her head couldn’t. When the president returned from the Capitol around noon, Hicks opened her office door, which clasps with a ring at its center, and walked about ten feet to her right, into the Oval Office. Before she could finish resigning, Trump interrupted her. He told her that he cared about her happiness, that he understood her decision, and he would help her do anything she wanted to do in her life. He said he hoped she would go make a lot of money. He also said he hoped that she would come back at some point. Then the president added something else: “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.”