White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of US President Donald Trump’s most trusted and longest-serving aides, abruptly announced her resignation, leaving a void around a president who values loyalty and affirmation.
The departure of Hicks, who worked as a one-woman communications shop during his campaign, came as a surprise on Wednesday to most in the White House — and cast a pall over the West Wing at a trying time for the president.
It leaves Trump increasingly without support of the familiar aides who surrounded him during his campaign, and marks the latest in a string of high-level departures in the administration’s second year.
Photo: Reuters
Hicks, 29, had a seemingly untouchable role in the West Wing, often viewed more as a surrogate daughter than a staffer.
Perhaps most importantly, she served as Trump’s glamorous shield and validator, always ready to provide “Mr. Trump” with a smiling dose of positive reinforcement, and controlling reporters’ access.
She was the fourth person to occupy the position since the president was sworn in, as the Trump White House has set modern records for staff turnover.
In a statement, Trump praised Hicks for her work over the last three years, saying that he “will miss having her by my side.”
Hicks on Wednesday informed Trump of her decision, a White House official said.
Hicks, who occupied the desk closest to the Oval Office in the West Wing, has been a central participant in or witness to nearly every milestone and controversy of the Trump campaign and White House.
She began her White House tenure as director of strategic communications — a title that only partly captured her more expansive role as the president’s gatekeeper to the press.
The news comes a day after Hicks was interviewed for nine hours by the House of Representatives panel investigating Russia interference in the 2016 election and contact between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Hicks on Tuesday acknowledged to the House panel that she has occasionally told “white lies” for Trump, but added that she had not lied about anything relevant to the Russia investigation.
She has also been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about her role in crafting a statement about Donald Trump Jr’s 2016 meeting with Russians, as Mueller’s expansive probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential misdeeds committed by those in the president’s orbit moves ever closer to the Oval Office.
Hicks’ departure leaves a vacuum in the White House communications team, and in the president’s collection of trusted aides.
The announcement came a day after news broke of the impending departure of deputy communications director Josh Raffel, and just a few days after senior adviser Jared Kushner saw his security clearance downgraded — limiting his access to classified information.
“I can’t imagine anyone here leaving a bigger hole in the White House than Hope on her departure,” White House lawyer Ty Cobb said.
White House officials and outside advisers suggested that Hicks’ departure would strengthen chief of staff John Kelly’s control over what has been an oftentimes chaotic West Wing.
In a statement, Kelly said Hicks had become “a trusted adviser and counselor,” but behind the scenes, the pair had occasionally clashed over her more informal role.
Kelly had begrudgingly supported making Hicks communications director after the short-lived tenure of Anthony Scaramucci, in an effort to integrate her role into the rest of the White House’s communications strategy.
“There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump,” Hicks said in a statement, adding that she wished Trump and his administration the “very best.”
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS