Hope Hicks, President Donald Trump’s longest-serving aide and current communications director will resign her post in the coming weeks, the White House said Wednesday.
The New York Times first reported that Hicks would resign and sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed she would be leaving to ABC News.
After the news broke, President Trump said he “will miss having her by my side.”
“Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person,” the president said in a statement provided to the media by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
“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,” Trump said.
In her own statement, also provided by the White House, Hicks said: “There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump. I wish the President and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country.”
Speaking to reporters, Sanders said Hicks was not resigning because of her testimony Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee during which she said she had occasionally told white lies on President Trump’s behalf, according to a source familiar with the interview.
