President Trump’s longtime staffer Hope Hicks is set to become the new interim White House communications director, a White House official told reporters Wednesday, according to CNN. Though only temporary, Hicks will replace Anthony Scaramucci—who was fired just 10 days after he was given the position—as head of the communications team for the Trump administration until a more permanent replacement can be found.
Hicks, who is one of Trump’s youngest staffers at 28, served as his press secretary during his 2016 campaign and currently holds the title of White House Director of Strategic Communications. Before her start in politics at the age of 26, Hicks was a model and actress, and worked for the PR firm Hiltzik Strategies before joining the Trump administration. Hicks has no experience working in politics apart from her involvement with the Trump campaign.
As interim communications director, Hicks' role will be to manage the communications strategy of Trump and the White House, according to Newsweek. She will also likely be handling fallout from the Russian investigation and, most recently, how President Trump will respond to white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
In a White House release of top staff salaries back in June, it was revealed that Hicks makes $179,700 a year, making her one the highest paid White House aides, among others such as Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon. While she still holds her previous title, it is unclear whether her pay will change with the addition of her new role in the White House.
Since 2014, when Ivanka Trump hired her to work for her fashion line, Hicks has worked to gain the trust of the Trump family and is now one of the president's most trusted advisors. “Her most important role is her bond with the candidate,” his former campaign manager Paul Manafort told the New York Times. “She totally understands him.”
In a February 2016 profile of Hicks in the New York Times, Trump expressed his approval of Hicks and how impressed he was with her work. “She’s got very good judgment,” Trump said. “She will often give advice, and she’ll do it in a very low-key manner, so it doesn’t necessarily come in the form of advice. But it’s delivered very nicely.”
Though no official candidates for the permanent position have been announced, there have been internal discussions considering Stephen Miller, a senior advisor on policy, as a potential replacement for Scaramucci, according to an unnamed White House official who spoke to CNN. An unnamed White House insider explained that the Trump administration will "make an announcement on a permanent communications director at the appropriate time."
Scaramucci, for one, approves of his temporary replacement:
