From Greenwich to the White House: Who is Hope Hicks?

In the hours before the news broke that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are infected with COVID-19, the world learned that Hope Hicks, one of his top aides, had not only tested positive for the novel coronavirus but was also displaying symptoms.

It was not the first time the Greenwich native has found herself in the spotlight.

While working for Trump, Hicks has cut an enigmatic figure, walking behind the president on the way to Marine One on the White House lawn, taking a selfie on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews near Air Force One or applauding from the sidelines of a Trump campaign rally.

This is her second stint working in the White House; Hicks returned in March 2020 and currently serves as counselor to the president. She has been a fixture on the campaign trail in both 2016 and 2020.

Hicks, now 31, was a teen model while growing up in Old Greenwich. She posed for a Ralph Lauren advertising campaign with her sister Mary Grace and was the cover model for “The It Girl,” the first novel in the series by Cecily von Ziegesar.

A 2006 graduate of Greenwich High School, Hicks was co-captain of the lacrosse team. Under her yearbook photo, she quoted singer Jimmy Buffet: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” There’s also a shout-out to her family and a lyric from the Spice Girls: “Never give up on the good times.”

Her family is well known in political and social circles in town.

Both of her parents have worked for congressmen. Caye Ann Cavender, who was then a legislative aide for U.S. Rep. Ed Jones, D-Tenn., married Paul Burton Hicks III, who worked for U.S. Rep. Stewart B. McKinney at the time, on May 15, 1982, at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Greenwich.

Her father served on the Board of Selectmen in Greenwich from 1987 to 1991. In the first two years, Paul Hicks’ term overlapped with now-Gov. Ned Lamont’s time on the board.

Well wishes for recovery

On Friday, Dan Quigley, chair of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee, offered the GOP’s and his own support for Hicks as well as the First Family during their recoveries.

“The RTC wishes the president, the first lady and … Hope Hicks a speedy recovery,” Quigley said. “We urge members of our community to remain vigilant as we continue to battle COVID.”

Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair Joe Angland, speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the party, offered his own well wishes to Hicks and the Trumps for a quick recovery. But Angland echoed criticism that Trump and his administration have not done enough to promote safe behaviors such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

“Speaking for myself, I am sorry to see anyone get COVID,” Angland said. “The fact remains, however, that perhaps the president and hundreds of thousands of others would have avoided that diagnosis if he had not downplayed the importance of wearing masks and social distancing.”

In Greenwich, First Selectman Fred Camillo has pushed residents to continue the use of masks and social distancing to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. But Trump rarely wears masks, nor do the people near him.

“While there is still a lot to be learned for how the virus is transmitted from one person to the next, all of the evidence is really supporting respiratory droplets transmitting COVID,” said Dr. Richard Martinello, who works in infectious diseases at Yale New Haven Hospital. “While masks are by no means perfect, we do know they have a good degree of effectiveness to both contain people’s secretions, so by wearing a mask they protect others around them, and they also protect themselves.”

Some research suggests that even if masks are only 20 percent effective, they could limit transmission of the disease substantially and potentially save as many as 10,000 lives, Martinello said. That, in addition to practicing social distancing and proper hygiene, have proven effective ways of limiting the spread of the virus, he said.

“It’s really all of these different behaviors, not being out and about, not gathering in groups,” Martinello said. “All these things together are all very helpful in stopping the transmission of the virus.”

Long-serving aide to Trump

Near the start of her career, Hicks did public relations work for the fashion brand run by Ivanka Trump. Despite her lack of political experience, Hicks was one of the early members of Trump’s presidential campaign. She was even photographed by Greenwich Time as she worked in his New Hampshire headquarters before the 2016 primary.

Often described as loyal and adept at reading Trump’s moods, Hicks kept a low-profile but was part of the small inner circle that traveled on Trump’s private jet as he campaigned.

After the election, she held several roles in the White House: director of strategic communications, interim communications director, and communications director.

In February 2018, Hicks testified for nine hours behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee, acknowledging that she sometimes had to tell “white lies” as communications director. The next day, Hicks announced that she planned to resign, leaving the White House on March 29, 2018.

In June 2019, Hicks testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where she was questioned about alleged attempts by the president and administration to undermine the work of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

A transcript of her testimony offered a few surprising details, though.

What was her first reaction to news of the impending release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump is heard bragging about how he gropes and forcibly kisses women? “Honestly, my reaction was, it was a Friday afternoon, and I was hoping to get home to see my family for the first time in a few months, and that wasn’t happening,” said Hicks.

Asked whether she read the report on Trump campaign interactions with Russia, Hicks replied: “No sir, I lived the Mueller report.”