‘No other Australian closer to Trump’: Young Liberal Phillip Hancock’s links to White House

He’s a baby-faced Young Liberal who has gone from handing out how-to-vote cards for state MPs to the inner circle of President Donald Trump.

He’s a baby-faced Young Liberal who has gone from handing out how-to-vote cards for state MPs to the inner circle of President Donald Trump.

And now everyone from Australian business leaders to billionaires such as Richard Pratt and Gina Rinehart are clamouring for a lunch with Phillip Hancock.

There is also the joke that everyone is claiming to have had lunch with him. even if they haven’t, in the frenzy to create a perception of influence and links to the White House.

Among those believed to have lunched with Hancock include Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd. Several sources claimed he had also spoken with Scott Morrison.

Hancock is one of five of Trump’s advancers - the operatives who work behind the scenes to organise political leaders’ public appearances.

On Friday, he was seen mingling with other Australian ex-pollies, business types and journalists at a farewell party being held for The Australian’s Washington correspondent Adam Creighton.

Phillip Hancock with new Opposition foreign affairs spokesman David Coleman while helping to hand out how-to-vote cards for Oatley MP Mark Coure in 2015. Picture: Supplied.

Hosted by former ambassador turned Bondi Partners co-founder Joe Hockey in his US penthouse, guests included former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet and Alex Butterworth, who owns the new Trump hangout bar, Butterworth’s in Capitol Hill.

Just who plucked Hancock from obscurity to become a member of Trump’s exclusive team is unknown, but it is likely to have been via the senior Republican contacts he made when he co-produced the 2020 film The Plot Against The President.

Phillip Hancock in Washington, D.C. Picture: Facebook

A University of Western Australia graduate, Hancock had received a scholarship from the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation to work with filmmakers Taliesin Nexus in Los Angeles.

He subsequently worked for New York-based Moving Picture Institute on the previous presidential election campaign.

Hancock became involved in politics while at university, joining the WA Young Liberals “for about nine months,” according to a fellow member.

“He got quite involved in the WA Liberal clubs and then into the party before disappearing and then turning up posting stories about working for Trump,” the source said.

Hancock’s Instagram account only features three photographs of himself, including from the 2017 inauguration, another two years later standing next to a US flag and a final one in 2021 which is simply captioned: “I’m unemployed”.

A few years later, Hancock – who is believed to have become a US citizen since winning the Green Card lottery – is seen leaping up on stage to retrieve Trump’s shoe after his boss was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and Hancock was seen leaping up on stage to retrieve Trump’s shoe. Picture: AFP.

The 29-year-old was also a guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida where he attended a function hosted by Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, with by Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and TV personality Dr Oz.

Hancock also helped with the now famous McDonald’s publicity stunt in October, during which Trump donned an apron and served fries at a drive-through window in Pennsylvania as he sought out votes.

A source close to Hancock said every Australian in the US appeared to be trying to gain access to the 29-year-old, who is understood to have helped set up the phone call between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Trump after the election.

“I’m not sure he likes all the attention. He comes across as quite shy – he looks like a boy band member – but he is very influential, which is why everyone wants his number,” the source said.

“Given his age, it is pretty extraordinary, but he is an ardent supporter (of Trump). He was at the January 6 protest.

“He was also at Mar-a-Lago on election night. There is definitely no other Australian closer to Trump right now other than maybe Greg Norman.”

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