Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s first political PR guru and presumed holder of all his dirty secrets, testified at the former president’s New York criminal trial on Friday—and wouldn’t even throw a glance at her former boss during her first hour on the witness stand.
From the moment she walked into the courtroom at 11:30 a.m., the atmosphere immediately changed. The 35-year-old publicist—who normally carries herself confidently and owns the room—slowly made her way into the courtroom through a side door that’s disguised as a wall panel and uneasily made her way past the red-velvet rope that separates the battle area from the public pews. She kept her head down, with her feathered blonde hair drooping over her eyes as she gripped a black purse in her left hand.
Once she sat down, Hicks barely squeaked out an introduction.
“Hi, my name is Hope Charlotte Hicks, and my last name is spelled H-I-C-K-S,” she said, apologizing for being nervous.
But after a few minutes, she began to sit up straighter and speak more firmly as she began detailing the way she entered Trump’s orbit. She recalled landing a job at the Trump Organization as its communications director and how it slowly morphed into a PR role on his 2016 presidential campaign.
Prosecutors hope to use Hicks as a witness who can add crucial details about Trump’s involvement in directing hush-money payments to former “playmate” Karen McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump is currently on trial facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over the way he paid his consigliere Michael Cohen after the since-disgraced lawyer closed these deals.
Few knew what to expect from her testimony. Hicks remained close to the Trump family even after she left her role in 2018 after serving as his longest tenured political aide. She became the Fox Corporation’s top flack then returned to the White House at the tail end of his administration.
However, she’s already been burned by staying so close to Trump—evident by her private remarks after witnessing how Trump’s violent rhetoric and rejection of legitimate 2020 election results brought about the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. As the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot eventually uncovered, Hicks texted Ivanka Trump’s then-chief of staff, “We all look like domestic terrorists now.” She later added, “And all of us that didn’t have jobs lined up will be perpetually unemployed.”
