• Hope Hicks told friends she wouldn’t go back to the White House this year, even if the president asked, The Daily Beast reported.
  • Hicks resigned from her post as White House communications director in February, but is said to be a potential replacement for Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly.
  • Trump responded to return rumors and reiterated their good relationship, telling reporters, “I love Hope.”

Hope Hicks told friends she wouldn’t return to the White House this year, even if President Donald Trump asked her to, The Daily Beast reported.

Several of Hicks’ friends told The Daily Beast that she has ruled out becoming Trump’s next potential chief of staff for at least the rest of 2018, despite rumors her name is being floated for the position.

Hicks resigned from her post as White House communications director in February after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Hicks admitted she told “white lies” for Trump on occasion, but said she never lied about anything concerning the investigation.

The 29-year-old Hicks had reportedly been planning to leave for months, and despite a rocky time in the spotlight, several members of the Trump administration wished her well upon her resignation.

Trump himself lent credence to the rumors of Hicks' return to the White House, expressing support for the idea in front of the press last month.

"I love Hope. She's great. I hope that - I've been hearing little things like that," Trump told reporters on June 29. "I think everybody misses it. When they leave for a little while, you [in the press] exhaust a lot of people … They come in full of life, full of vigor, and they're exhausted, and then they get their breath. Frankly, Hope is great and so are many of the other people and they went out. But many people would like to come back."

Hicks was widely reported to be Trump's most trusted adviser after years working for the Trump Organization. She was said to have more access to Trump than almost any other member of the president's staff.

The president and Hicks have reportedly kept in touch since her departure. A White House official told the Daily Beast Trump had his staff send Hicks a dictated message "wishing her well in her future endeavors and expressing that he missed her."

Read the full report here »