Wat we precies van Donald Trump vinden, laten we hier maar even links liggen. Zijn communicatiedirecteur vinden we véél interessanter. Hope Kicks, 27 jaar, de enige vrouw die fulltime met de Republikeinse koploper meereist en achter de schermen knap alle ballen in de lucht houdt. En dat zijn er best veel, met een presidentskandidaat die bijna constant in het nieuws is.
Hoe dat precies is gekomen? Nou, zo:
In 2012, na een succesvolle tienercarrière als model en met een diploma van de particuliere Southern Methodist University op zak, mocht de Connecticut-native van het Trump-leven proeven toen ze voor het New Yorkse public relations-bedrijf Hiltzik Strategies aan de slag ging en de golf- en hotelafdelingen van The Donald toegeschoven kreeg. The Trump Organization nam haar twee jaar later, in 2014, zelf in dienst als communicatiedirecteur. Een jaar na dato kreeg ze de schrik (en kans) van haar leven toen Donald Trump haar vroeg of ze niet voor zijn campagne zou willen werken. Dat wilde ze best.
Op de vraag of ze ooit had gedacht in een dergelijk schuitje te zitten, antwoordt ze:
'No, but it's funny—I was home for Easter, reading an article from when I was 11 or 12, talking about how my career as a model had taken off. It said, "If modeling doesn't work out for you, what would you do?" And I said, "Well, I'm not really sure, but I'm interested in politics."'
Over de eindeloos lange werkdagen vertelt Hope:
'There was a moment [the week before] the New Hampshire primary when we were in the office and somebody wanted to go home at like 11:30 p.m. And the campaign manager said, "My boss [Trump] is working harder than you. That's not right. You need to stay and do what you're supposed to do." This is Mr. Trump's time away from his family, and frankly, it's his money. He's spent millions, and the thing we can do is work to the best of our ability as hard as possible. The pressure and the long hours—it's all relative to what he's putting in, which is everything.'
Wat voor advies ze andere vrouwen zou willen geven?
'My dad always says that there's no substitute for hard work. If you work hard and you work for somebody who empowers you and challenges you, you'll be successful. Mr. Trump and Ivanka [Trump, his daughter] say that if you're passionate about what you do, you'll ultimately be successful, because you'll work so hard because you love it so much, and results will happen. And even if you're not successful, meaning you [don't] reach great levels of fame and fortune, but you're happy doing what you're doing, you'll be successful in that right. And I think that's very true.'
En, tot slot: of alles wat op televisie komt over The Donald een goede afspiegeling is van de beste man?
'We get so many requests like, "We want behind-the-scenes access" or "We're going to show people what it's really like to be on the campaign with Donald Trump." But there is just no way that a camera or an episode or a documentary could capture what has gone on. There is nothing like it. And I would say 90 percent of that is the people you see and the things they say, and the way they react to Mr. Trump. It is the most unbelievable, awe-inspiring thing.'
