Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s communications advisers, was the only person in the room during the president’s explosive interview with The New York Times last week. At only 28-years-old, Hicks is new to Washington, but holds a deep bond with the president, who refers to her as “Hopester.”
In a new Politico profile, Hicks is described as somewhat of a “Trump Whisperer.” But after the Times interview, some are questioning whether Hicks is helping Trump advance his agenda or just allowing him to continue his self-destructive tendencies.
Hicks worked for the Trump Organization before joining the campaign at the very beginning, writes Politico. She now has a salary of about $179,700 — roughly the same as Steven Bannon. She is almost treated more like an extended family member than a staffer. She has joined Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump for Shabbat dinner and has stood next to the Trump family when they met the pope earlier this year.
Colleagues even described her communication with the president similar to that of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, in that she can “express her disagreements to he president privately, but ultimately supports his decisions unquestiongly.”
But even she cannot control the president’s style of communication. Politico writes that during the interview with The Times, Hicks — whose own comments were all off the record — did try to intervene and remind the president that he did not have to answer every question on the record.
Hicks has internally joked that her job isn’t about communicating strategically with the press, it is about communicating strategically with the president himself. Other aides rely on Hicks’ judgment to decide whether it is a good time to talk to the president. She can read Trump well, and can convey information to the president quickly and get messages back to the rest of the staff.
Coordinating interviews with the president is all Hicks, who has become part of Trump’s diminishing circle of trust. But unlike others in the Trump Administration, the young communications adviser avoids the spotlight herself. Her Instagram is private, she doesn’t have Twitter, she never comments on stories, and she rarely ventures out in Washington.
While she has accepted that Trump will say things that people find shocking or upsetting, writes Politico, she deeply believes in Trump as a leader and is not going to try to change or judge “a 70-year-old man whose career highs have been based on trusting his own instincts.”
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