Trump’s other woman
Meet the mysterious p.r. gal who’s the wind beneath the Donald’s wings
S HE’S just 26 and could be on her way to the White House.
Granted, that journey to DC would require Donald Trump actually winning the election, but Hope Hicks has emerged as the gatekeeper to the field’s most talked-about candidate.
Hicks, a Greenwich, Conn., native, is the Donald’s media handler and reportedly the only young woman in his inner circle. In a business often dominated by the same old operatives, she is a fresh face.
“I’m sure she’s a great partner for [Trump],” says Kerri Dezell, a friend of Hicks’ and a former teammate on Southern Methodist University’s lacrosse team. “He’s a fierce person and extremely dedicated, and she has that same type of demeanor with a perfectly put-on exterior.”
Hicks, who resembles model Hilary Rhoda, certainly has the glossy exterior — she even models Ivanka Trump’s eponymous fashion collection on the brand’s Web site. But why would a bright young woman want to work for someone who’s made so many disparaging remarks about women?
A former associate of the candidate says that while Trump is a “demanding” boss, in private he’s different from his loudmouthed persona.
“He’s very nice to women,” the associate says. “It does not surprise me that he would have an attractive, bright young lady to bounce ideas off of. He’s always had female advisers.”
Public relations is apparently in Hicks’ blood. Her father, Paul Hicks III, is a former Ogilvy p.r. executive who now works as the top spin doctor for the NFL.
The younger Hicks is going to need every trick she learned from her father if she has any hope of reining in her boss. She just might not want to rein him in too far.
“I think you let Donald be Donald and let him go,” says George Arzt, a Democratic political consultant and former press secretary for Mayor Ed Koch. “People like that he’s an unpolished guy who talks off the cuff.”
But Arzt admits that Hicks has a more difficult job than other press secretaries.
“Trump makes too many gaffes,” he says. “There’s going to be a cumulative effect in the end, which is going to decrease his support.”
Recently it came out that Trump had tweeted on Sept. 11, 2013: “I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th.” Hicks was left to lamely spin it: “The tweet is from several years ago,” she told Politico.
But a former boss, Matthew Hiltzik, says Hicks has the right stuff. She first connected with the Trump family while employed at Hiltzik Strategies p.r. firm, where she worked closely with Ivanka Trump before taking an in-house job with her father, Donald.
“She understands the different personalities,” Hiltzik says. “Hope has a great work ethic and a constant willingness to learn and adjust — and the right temperament to roll with the punches.”
Good thing. When you’re associated with both politics and Donald Trump, there are liable to be a lot of punches.