ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
- Hope Hicks, a close adviser to President Donald Trump, was in close contact with a slew of top White House aides in the days before testing positive for COVID-19.
- Hicks traveled with Trump and other top officials to Ohio on Wednesday and Minnesota on Thursday.
- Images and reports from Wednesday showed a mask-less Hicks in close proximity to aides including Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller, Jason Miller, and Dan Scavino — none of whom were wearing masks.
- Hicks also flew on Air Force One with National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, and adviser Ivanka Trump on Tuesday, according to the White House pool report.
- CBS News reported that Hicks tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, and some White House officials were aware by that evening. It is not clear if Trump or other officials she was with knew.
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Hope Hicks, a close adviser to President Donald Trump, tested positive for COVID-19 this week. She was in close contact with a clutch of White House aides in the days leading up to her positive test.
Hicks traveled with Trump to a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on Air Force One on Wednesday. The day before, she accompanied him to Cleveland, Ohio, for the first presidential debate.
Trump announced early Friday that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, had tested positive for COVID-19 and were self-isolating.
CBS News’ Weijia Jiang reported that Hicks was symptomatic and tested positive on Wednesday, and that some White House officials were aware by that evening. It is not clear if Trump or any other officials Hicks was knew of her positive result.
During the Minnesota and Ohio trips, Hicks was seen in close contact with a number of top White House officials, and not wearing a mask.
On Wednesday, Hicks embarked Marine One in Washington, DC, with advisers Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller, Jason Miller, Dan Scavino, and Nicholas Luna, according to White House pool reports and images from wire services.
Footage broadcast by CNN showed that none of them were wearing masks.
CNN
Upon arrival to Duluth, Hicks exited a van and entered a hotel alongside Scavino and Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, according to the White House pool report.
The day before, Hicks was seen disembarking Air Force One in Cleveland alongside White House adviser Ivanka Trump, Stepien, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and Rep. Jim Jordan for the presidential debate.
At the debate, Hicks was pictured not wearing a mask, and the president’s advisers and family — including Melania Trump, Tiffany Trump, Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend — also took off their masks for at least some if not the whole time during the debate.
Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity late Thursday: “We spend a lot of time with Hope.”
As Business Insider’s John Haltiwanger has reported, Trump himself also attended a number of events in the days leading up to his positive test.
After Trump held the campaign rally in Duluth, he held a fundraiser in nearby Lake Minnetonka.
And on Thursday, Trump held a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club. Multiple reports said some White House officials knew of Hicks’ positive test before the fundraiser, though it is not clear if Trump was aware.
Hicks, Donald Trump, and Melania Trump are the latest in a series of White House personalities to test positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
They include Robert O’Brien, Katie Miller — an aide to Vice President Mike Pence and wife to Stephen Miller — and Guilfoyle. One of Trump’s personal valets also tested positive in May.
