Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
U.S. President Donald Trump confers with White House Communications Director Hope Hicks during an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2018.
- President Donald Trump released a heartfelt statement after White House communications director Hope Hicks announced she would be resigning from her position.
- Trump called her "outstanding" and said he will miss having her by his side.
- Hicks was one of Trump's closest staffers, but had become involved in a number of controversies since her tenure began.
Soon after White House communications director Hope Hicks made a surprise announcement on Wednesday that she would be resigning from the White House, President Donald Trump released a heartfelt farewell statement saying he hoped he and Hicks would cross paths again soon.
"Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years," Trump's statement read. "She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person. I will miss having her by my side but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future."
Hicks is one of Trump's longest-serving staffers, and was a facet of his 2016 presidential campaign from its start in late 2015. She had served as communications director since August, and is the third person to resign from that post in Trump's White House.
Trump reportedly took negative news much better coming from her than from any other staffers, and some White House aides reportedly referred to her as his "real daughter."
Her resignation came a day after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee in the investigation into Russian election interference. She had previously been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team. She had reportedly decided to leave the Trump administration in the week before before her interview with the House committee.
A mixed background
Hicks, a former model and actress who had no political experience before joining Trump's campaign, had come under fire recently. With regard to the Russia investigation, The New York Times reported that Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president's legal team, planned to tell Mueller about a previously undisclosed phone call involving Trump and Hicks.
Corallo planned to say that in the call to Trump, Hicks said emails that showed that Donald Trump Jr. sought political dirt on the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, would "never get out," The Times reported. Hicks' lawyer denied the allegation.
Earlier this month, Hicks helped craft the administration's response to allegations of physical and emotional abuse against Rob Porter, who resigned as the White House staff secretary Wednesday. Multiple outlets have reported that Hicks is dating Porter.
One of Porter's former wives provided the Daily Mail photos of a black eye she said Porter gave her, while the other provided a photo of a protective order she filed against Porter in 2010. Porter denied the allegations.
In June, the White House released salary info for 377 top staffers. Hicks gets paid the maximum amount that any of Trump's aides receive: $179,700.