Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff

This week’s political head-turner was the abrupt announcement that White House Communications Director Hope Hicks was leaving the Trump administration a day after she spent eight-hours testifying under oath in a closed-door session with the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. She’s is President Donald Trump’s fourth communications director since taking office.

Hicks, 29, a former runway model with no political experience was plucked away from presidential daughter Ivanka Trump’s fashion-line team by then private citizen Donald Trump in 2015 to join his presidential campaign as an adviser.

According to news reports, Hicks developed a close and loyal relationship with Trump during his successful campaign for president and he brought her into his administration with an office in the West Wing of the White House. There’s probably much more to Hick’s decision that is known publicly, but she was an insider with no limit to her access to the president and she’s walking away from Washington. Her actual departure is expected within a few weeks. She has made no announcement about her future plans.

During her tenure as communications director Hicks did not sit for news interviews or appear in the White House Press Briefing Room preferring to let White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders handle those duties along with the other assistant press secretaries. She stayed in the background advising the president on how to react to those daily situations including his use of social media.

“Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years,” President Trump said. “She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person. 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.”

In the past year, Hicks no matter how hard she tried to stay in the background and out of controversy, controversy found her. Being an insider in the most controversial presidency ever will lead to perceived involvement with anything and everything that touches the president including Hick’s testimony before congressional committees and FBI special counsel Robert Mueller investigating alleged Russia/Trump election collusion and the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

Also in recent weeks Hicks’ personal life came under fire by mainstream media for her ‘dating’ relationship with White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who recently resigned following alleged allegations he had abused two former wives. As crazy as things are these days, this guy Porter might swing the table around and accuse Hicks of sexual harassment and get a big payout now that he’s unemployed.

In speaking about Hicks departure, President Trump’s policy advisor Kelly Ann Conway commented on Fox News Thursday morning, “She’s worked three years non-stop … she’ll probably be back at some point … she made a real impact … She’ll be difficult to replace. She was one of those unbroken threads that stayed from the early days … She is stunning … at 29-years-old she can put on her resume she was communications director for the president of the United States.”

After Hicks leaves the White House, Conway said she fully expected Hicks to do a major sit-down interview with mainstream media. “I’ll be watching,” said Conway.

In a related matter, President Trump on Tuesday named his former digital advisor to his presidential campaign Brad Parscale as his Campaign 2020 manager. There was a lot of chatter recently that maybe Trump would not run again, that he really doesn’t like being president – such nonsense and wishful thinking coming from the liberal left.

The economy is clipping along, the stock market remains strong and the president’s approval ratings are creeping on up to 49-percent from Rasmussen’s daily presidential tracking poll, which surveys likely voters, released Wednesday, according to Real Clear Politics. At the same point in his presidency Obama’s approval rating was 43-percent.

So what’s the connection between the appointment of Trump Campaign 2020 manager Parscale and the departure of Hicks? Read between the lines. Parscale is the front man, Hicks is the driving force behind the scenes to re-elect President Trump in three years. She is Trump’s secret weapon.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.