In January 2015, Donald Trump earmarked Hicks, who was 26 years old at the time, for the role of press secretary for his potential presidential campaign.[23][24] Donald Trump summoned her to his office and, as she tells it, "Mr. Trump looked at me and said, 'I'm thinking about running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary.'"[21] Until that time, she had never worked in politics, nor volunteered on a campaign.[25] After Trump's first primary victories, Hicks was asked to choose between staying with the Trump Organization or working on the campaign full-time. She initially decided to leave the campaign, but Trump convinced her to remain and she stayed on as press secretary.[13]
During the campaign, she played the role of gatekeeper to press members who wanted to speak with Trump, handling over 250 requests a day, and deciding which reporters would be allowed to speak with him.[14][25] Hicks also took dictation from Trump for his tweets, and then sent the text to another person in the Trump organization who actually sent out the tweets from Trump's official account.[21][26] When in New York City, she would spend most of her day sitting in Trump's office, handling inquiries from the press and taking dictation from him to tweet.[27] The demands of the campaign took a personal toll, as they caused a breakup between Hicks and her boyfriend of six years.[14]
On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Hicks would become part of the Trump Administration, in the newly created position of the White House Director of Strategic Communications. In January 2017, Hicks was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, having "served as a one-woman press team for Trump's historic presidential campaign."[6]
In May 2017, in response to an article in The Washington Post that said that Trump had a habit of belittling those who work for him, Hicks issued the following statement:
President Trump has a magnetic personality and exudes positive energy, which is infectious to those around him. He has an unparalleled ability to communicate with people, whether he is speaking to a room of three or an arena of 30,000. He has built great relationships throughout his life and treats everyone with respect. He is brilliant with a great sense of humor ... and an amazing ability to make people feel special and aspire to be more than even they thought possible.[28]
On August 16, 2017, she was made the interim White House Communications Director (the last Director having been Anthony Scaramucci). Politico labelled her the "Untouchable Hope Hicks," as she was considered one of the few White House officials whose job was safe, and she was one of only two White House communications officials who Scaramucci had announced were definitely staying when he was first hired.[29] She was appointed permanent White House Communications Director on September 12, 2017.[30]
