The White House Has a New Communications Director

The White House has named Hope Hicks interim communications director, taking over for the recently departed Anthony Scaramucci, CNN reports. Hicks, current White House senior communications adviser, is unlikely to last long in the new position, both because officials say a permanent communications director will be named "at the appropriate time" and due to the troubled history of the job under President Trump. The Washington Post runs down the list of people to hold the communications director role under Trump and the length of their tenure: Jason Miller (two days), Sean Spicer (55 days), Mike Dubke (90 days), Spicer (64 days), and Scaramucci (10 days).

NPR describes the 28-year-old Hicks, a former teen model, as one of Trump's "rarely seen but longest-serving aides." A longtime friend of Ivanka Trump, Hicks started by doing PR for the Trump Organization before joining the Trump campaign's press team. She's been described as Trump's "emotional support," and Politico, in a July profile, reports she's often treated more like a member of the Trump family than an aide. Some close to the administration say Hicks has been able to outlast so many others in the Trump campaign and administration because she shirks public attention. Her MO as senior communications adviser so far appears to have been to let Trump, who calls her "The Hopester," do as he pleases when it comes to the press. (More Hope Hicks stories.)