Updated March 01, 2018 17:21:30

Hope Hicks, one of US President Donald Trump's longest-serving aides, is resigning from her job as White House communications director.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the timeline for Ms Hicks' departure was unclear and that it was not related to her testimony to a congressional committee on Tuesday (local time) about a probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

During the nine-hour interview, Ms Hicks acknowledged that she had occasionally told "white lies" for Mr Trump, but she said she had not lied about anything relevant to the Russia investigation.

Ms Hicks has served in the role since August last year, when former director Anthony Scaramucci was fired.

She was the fourth person in the Trump administration to take the communications job.

Hope Hicks has been named as the Trump White House's third communications director. Find out more about the 28-year-old with a long connection to the Trumps.

Ms Hicks, 29, was one of the first people hired by then-businessman Mr Trump when he began his campaign for the presidency, and is one of his most trusted advisers. Aides said she had approached the President and told him she wanted to leave so she could start exploring opportunities outside the White House.

"Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person," Donald Trump said in a statement released by the White House.

"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."

Before her PR and political careers, Ms Hicks modelled with the Ford agency, including a campaign for Ralph Lauren, and also featured on the cover of a Gossip Girl spin-off novel.

On Tuesday Ms Hicks declined to answer questions about the administration from members of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee investigating Russia and the 2016 US election, lawmakers said.

Ms Hicks was Mr Trump's spokeswoman during the campaign.

Among the issues Ms Hicks declined to discuss with the House panel was her part in drafting a statement in July 2017 misrepresenting a July 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that included the president's eldest son Donald Trump Jr, other Trump associates and Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer.

White House chief of staff John Kelly praised Ms Hicks' contribution in her time at the White House.

"To say that she will be missed, is an understatement," he said.

Ms Hicks is credited behind the scenes for stabilising the communications operation after taking over from Mr Scaramucci.

She said in a statement: "There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump. I wish the President and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country."

It is expected she will leave the White House in the next few weeks.

Ms Hicks was caught up in a controversy surrounding former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, whom she had been dating.

She worked to defend him when charges of domestic abuse against his two former wives emerged. Mr Porter was ultimately forced to resign.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, donald-trump, united-states

First posted March 01, 2018 08:53:16