Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director and top press aide to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, is returning to the White House, a senior White House official told NBC News on Thursday.
"Hope won't be part of the communications department," the senior official said. "She will be working closely with Jared Kushner and Brian Jack in a number of strategic areas."
Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, is a senior adviser to the president with a wide policy portfolio, and Jack is the White House political director.
Hicks' portfolio will include the 2020 re-election campaign, and her title is expected to be counselor to the president, said a former White House official familiar with the decision.
Hicks departed the White House in 2018 and took on a senior role in Fox Corp.'s communications office.
"There is no one more devoted to implementing President Trump's agenda than Hope Hicks," Kushner said in a statement. "We are excited to have her back on the team."
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement: "I have worked with Hope for almost six years and can say without hesitation she is one of the most talented and savvy individuals I have come across. She has always impressed me with her quiet confidence, loyalty and expertise, and I am beyond thrilled to welcome Hope back to the White House."
Hicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Hicks, a former model, had no political experience before she joined the Trump campaign. Before that, she worked for Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.
Her 2018 resignation came one day after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Hicks was referred to nearly 180 times in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the matter.
When she resigned, Hicks said in a statement that there were "no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump."
