美国国家公共电台 NPR Hope Hicks To Resign As White House Communications Director

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

President Trump¹'s longest-serving aide is leaving the White House. Hope Hicks has been at Trump's side since before the start of his presidential campaign nearly three years ago. Today she's the White House communications director, and the White House says she will leave that job in the coming weeks. NPR's Tamara Keith joins us now from the White House. Hi, Tam.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE²: Hey.

SHAPIRO: How big of a shock is this?

KEITH: This is a shock in a lot of ways because she has been sort of the ultimate survivor³ of the Trump administration and the Trump campaign and was truly one of his most loyal aides. But it does come at a time when she was making a lot of headlines and for all the wrong reasons.

Yesterday she testified before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its Russia investigation⁴ behind closed doors and reportedly admitted to telling white lies for the president but not as it relates to Russia. She had also been deeply involved in what was a multi-week controversy⁵ for the White House about former staff secretary Rob Porter, who had been accused by his two ex-wives of domestic abuse. The White House handled that in a way that is - was arguably terrible and made it drag on for longer. And she had also reportedly been dating Porter in addition to crafting the White House response.

But, you know, one person close to Hicks told NPR that this had been in the works for weeks and that it absolutely wasn't related to her testimony⁶ yesterday before the Intelligence Committee.

SHAPIRO: As we said, she's been by Trump's side constantly since before he started running for president. Talk about her role in his world.

KEITH: Yeah, so she joined the Trump campaign from its very first day - from before its very first day. President Trump put out a statement saying, quote, "I will miss having her by my side, but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future."

The thing about Hope Hicks - she was an - she was, like, the ultimate gatekeeper to Trump. If a reporter wanted to talk to Trump, they had to go through Hicks. But the thing about her was that she was not a public person, which is remarkable⁷ in this White House where everyone becomes a celebrity⁸. Last year I did a story about her, and we were looking around for any tape of where she spoke⁹ publicly. And all we could find was this rally after the election where President Trump basically dragged her up onto stage.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, she's a little shy, but that's OK because she is really, really talented. Hope, say a couple of words.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

KEITH: And for a brief moment, she took center stage.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HOPE HICKS: Hi. Merry Christmas, everyone. And thank you, Donald Trump.

SHAPIRO: And she also didn't have a background in politics. Talk about how she entered the Trump orbit in the first place.

KEITH: Yeah, so she came into Trump's orbit by way of Ivanka Trump. She was brought into the Trump organization to work for Ivanka. She before that had been at a PR firm where she was doing work for Ivanka's fashion line. And here's the other fun fact about Hope Hicks. Her - when she was a teenager, she was a fashion model.

SHAPIRO: There has been a nearly unprecedented¹⁰ amount of turnover¹¹ in the White House, including in the job of communications director. Hope Hicks was, depending how you count it, the fourth or fifth person to hold the job since Trump became president. Do you think this portends¹² yet more turnover, a larger staff shakeup?

KEITH: You know, the Trump White House is in a permanent state of flux¹³. On any given day, there are multiple names out there who are thought to be in trouble or potentially on their way out. This one wasn't necessarily expected, but the Trump administration is setting records for staff turnover.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Tamara Keith speaking with us from the White House. Thanks, Tam.

KEITH: You're welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

8 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

12 portends   

v.预示( portend的第三人称单数 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告

参考例句：

• Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs. 人怕出名猪怕壮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It portends we are in danger. 这预示我们陷入危险。 来自互联网

13 flux   

n.流动；不断的改变

参考例句：

• The market is in a constant state of flux.市场行情在不断变化。
• In most reactors,there is a significant flux of fast neutrons.在大部分反应堆中都有一定强度的快中子流。