Hope Hicks, one of President Trump’s top White House aides, has tested positive for the coronavirus, a source familiar with the situation confirms to VICE News.
The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
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Trump confirmed it on Fox News Thursday night.
“I just went for a test and we’ll see what happens,” he told Sean Hannity.
Hicks is one of Trump’s closest advisers — and spends more time with him than almost anyone else in the White House.
She traveled with Trump on Air Force One on Wednesday to a campaign stop in Minnesota, according to pool reports. She also traveled with Trump and the rest of his entourage to Cleveland for the presidential debate on Tuesday. Most of Trump’s team didn’t wear masks at the debate, and were in the room with Biden’s team throughout the night, though the two sides sat separately.
Hicks was one of Trump’s first campaign staff, joining him months before he officially announced his bid for the presidency in 2015, and after briefly leaving the White House returned to Trump’s side in February. She’s particularly close with Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.
According to the Times, Hicks was quarantined on the flight back from Minnesota. It’s not immediately clear whether she came in direct contact with the president before then, or who else she came in contact with.
Hicks is the closest aide to Trump to get COVID-19, but far from the first. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence, got the illness earlier this year, as did a valet to Trump.
