SMU Grad Hope Hicks Set to Quit as White House Communications Director

SMU graduate Hope Hicks, President Donald Trump's 29-year-old confidant, gatekeeper and communications director, will leave the White House sometime in the next few weeks, according to reporting from The New York Times' Maggie Haberman. Although Hicks testified for the U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, reportedly admitting she told "white lies" in order to further her boss' agenda, her departure has been planned for weeks, according to Haberman's sources.

“Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years,” Trump said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “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.”

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks delivered a tearful goodbye to her staff this afternoon in the White House, saying she's decided to leave because she doesn't like Washington and doesn't want to part of the system, according to a person in the room.

— Jordyn Phelps (@JordynPhelps) February 28, 2018

Hicks, a former model and Gossip Girl novelization cover star, caught the future president's eye while doing some work for Ivanka Trump's clothing line in 2014. He quickly snapped her up for the Trump organization, and Hicks became an integral part of Trump's presidential campaign as it picked up steam in 2015.

Last year, she took over the communications director role after the brief, fiery tenure of Anthony Scaramucci while continuing to control access to the president through her office, which was adjacent to the Oval Office.

Hicks also played a starring role in Michael Wolff's scandalous White House tell-all, Fire and Fury. In the book, Wolff claims that Hicks had on an on-again, off-again relationship with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Hicks and Lewandowski's liaison culminated in a Page Six-covered screaming match on 61st Street near Park Avenue in Manhattan in May 2016.

The next month, Trump fired Lewandowski. In a moment of compassion, Hicks, who'd become one of Trump's closest and tight-lipped confidants, asked Trump how she could help Lewandowski.

"Why?" Trump replied, according to Wolff. "You've already done enough for him. You're the best piece of tail he'll ever have."

According to the Times, Hicks is leaving because she feels she's accomplished all the she could in the White House and that she'd never find a perfect time to leave.