Cozy Photo Of Trump & Hope Hicks During His First Term Is Eye-Opening

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A familiar figure during Donald Trump's first presidential term, there are many things people don't know about Hope Hicks. For instance, she began her relationship with the Trumps by initially working for Ivanka Trump, modelling clothes for her fashion brand. Donald noticed her in October 2014, recruiting her to work in public relations for his real estate company. He eventually brought her along on the early days of his presidential campaign trail in 2015 and convinced her to come on full-time as press secretary despite her lack of political experience. People also may not know just how close she was to the president.

Hicks was able to maintain a low profile until May 2017, when she became one of the few people to join Trump when he met with the pope. Then, in July 2017, Hicks was the only aide present when the POTUS gave an incendiary interview to The New York Times regarding the Russia investigation. Questions began to swirl, and in February 2018, Hicks announced her resignation from the Trump administration one day after testifying before Congress that she sometimes told lies on behalf of the president. Trump made sure to give her a special sendoff.

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March 29, 2018, was Hicks' last day working as Trump's press secretary (before returning two years later), and their cozy goodbye was captured by photographers. While they shook hands, Trump leaned in and appeared as if he was going to say something in Hicks' ear, but instead planted a kiss on her cheek. Hicks responded by making a kissing motion herself. "I will miss having her by my side ... and I'm sure we will work together again in the future," Trump told the press at the time of her departure, per CBS News. This came after one journalist alleged he'd had some inflammatory comments about Hicks.

A couple of months before she left the White House the first time, a book exposed a rumored affair between Hope Hicks and Corey Lewandowski, who would later be infamously linked to Kristi Noem. In January 2018, author Michael Wolff published his book "Fire and Fury," which took aim at Donald Trump's administration. Wolff claimed that Trump, aware of the affair, told Lewandowski that Hicks was "the best piece of tail" he could hope to have.

Despite that alleged remark and Hicks' exodus, the former press secretary and Trump remained on good terms, as she later rejoined his administration in March 2020 as a counselor. By October, Hicks was on the campaign trail with Trump for a rally in Florida, where she spoke to the crowd. Trump was seen gleefully laughing and enthusiastically applauding while Hicks gave her speech. She later stepped away when Trump's time in office was up, but her relationship with him still made headlines.

Hicks was called to testify during the Stormy Daniels trial in May 2024, where she was questioned about her time as Trump's campaign press secretary in 2016. "He wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship," Hicks admitted on the stand, per Reuters, when speaking about Trump's attempts to hide his affairs with Daniels and model Karen McDougal. "He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife," Hicks added.

That same month, a report from Politico claimed that, even though she had to submit some damning testimony, Hicks was someone Trump trusted. "Hope was one of the president's most loyal and dedicated advisers," former White House official Raj Shah told the outlet. "The president instinctively trusted her judgment."