Hope Hicks' friend wants Trump to know 'she's being forced' to testify against him

It's not clear what longtime aide Hope Hicks might tell the jury in Donald Trump's hush money case, but a close friend made clear that she's not eager to testify against her former boss.

The former White House official could testify as early as Friday, and while she hasn't given details about what she'll say, several sources close to her made clear that she was frustrated and angry about being called to testify — and described the trial as a waste of time and money.

“This feels like something she’s being forced to do,” one former senior administration official who is close to her told the Washington Post. “She still has warm feelings toward the president and a lot of admiration for him.”

The 35-year-old Hicks, a former Trump Organization staffer who was one of his earliest campaign hires, was "in and out" of an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower to discuss the National Enquirer's role in identifying and killing damaging stories, according to testimony from former publisher David Pecker.

The Post also contacted Hicks to discuss the newspaper's impending publication of the "Access Hollywood" story in October 2016, which revealed Trump on tape bragging about molesting women, and prosecutors have alleged that recording played a key role in the decision to pay hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels — which eventually fell under prosecution.

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“She was there for everything, so they are going to ask her questions,” said Hogan Gidley, a friend of Hicks who served as Trump’s principal deputy press secretary. “I know Hope, I talk to Hope, and she wants nothing but the best for Donald Trump and his family.”

Hicks and Trump have not spoken since 2022, when she was called before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, although a former adviser said their relationship remained "cordial."

But the former president and his family were reportedly unhappy with her candor in that testimony.

"[Trump] said something along the lines of, you know, ‘Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won’t matter — the only thing that matters is winning,'" Hicks told congressional investigators under oath.

The Trump family, especially Ivanka, were especially unhappy with text messages Hicks sent after Jan. 6 that she shared with the committee.

“In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn’t include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter," Hicks said in one of those messages.