How Donald Trump’s aide Natalie Harp became the most talked-about name in US politics
When Donald Trump made a secret plane switch to avoid an alleged terror threat, one of the aides he took with him was Natalie Harp, who is always close to his side. Has public scrutiny of their relationship become the president’s biggest problem?
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What’s the story?
"He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie."
It was Georgia Democrat senator Jon Ossoff who drew US attention to Donald Trump's aide, Natalie Harp, as he condemned the president during a speech in Atlanta.
Donald Trump's mature response has been to refer to Ossoff as a "Pee Wee Herman lookalike", while the director of White House communications, Steven Cheung, has called Ossoff "the biggest cuck loser in politics."
Ossoff seems to have touched a nerve.
Harp, a long-time aide of Trump (whose role also includes transcribing and posting his rants as social media posts) was one of the few staffers to join the president when he switched planes in Turkey after a bomb threat, and has joined him on the green during many golfing weekends at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman has described Harp as Trump's "binky", or comfort blanket.
"She's the person who makes Donald Trump feel good," says Jon Sopel.
"Melania Trump hasn't been seen at Donald Trump's side for absolutely ages, but Natalie Harp, she's always there."
Lewis Goodall says you don't need to be too sharp to read between the lines of what "travel with Natalie" is suggesting.
"What Ossoff is doing, and everybody knows it, is clearly hinting that they're having an affair, or there's something improper about the relationship," he says.
"There is no evidence of that."
There is, he adds, clear evidence that the pair are very close.
"Natalie Harp's a courtier for the court of Trump,” Lewis adds.
"During the 2024 campaign, she earned the nickname of 'the human printer', because she'd follow him around with a portable printer, feeding him articles of information and positive quotes about Trump that he would like."
Why Donald Trump likes Natalie Harp so much
The 'human printer' nickname may seem ridiculous, but feeding Trump's voracious sense of self-worth has earned Harp her spot at his side.
"She clearly understands his psychology," Lewis says.
"It speaks exactly to what Trump wants and what Trump craves and what Trump needs, which is constant adulation and praise.
"For a man who seems to have such a big ego, he's deeply brittle."
What Jon Ossoff stands to gain with public insinuations
Some might argue that Jon Ossoff inviting speculation about the relationship between Donald Trump and Natalie Harp might seem a bit, well, Trumpian.
But The News Agents believe this is exactly the point.
"Ossoff is a smart guy, and there is a lot of smart money on him running in 2028," says Lewis.
"He knows exactly what he's doing. Every speech he makes he's been majoring on themes around corruption, the president's uselessness, that Trump is just sitting in the White House all day, waging foreign wars, of building and rebuilding.
"Ossoff's speeches and his entire campaign is primed and perfectly calculated for virality."
It worked. The speech went viral and Republicans were up in arms.
"But it's also pretty tawdry, it's pretty unpleasant," Lewis adds.
"It's very much the Dems playing Trump at his own game.
"We should also remember, of course, it must be pretty unpleasant for Natalie Harp to be spoken about in that way."
Will this give the Democratic Party the bump it needs?
Since Donald Trump's election victory in 2024, many have complained that the Democrats have seemed somewhat absent from America's political scene.
But as the 2026 midterm elections approach, and big losses predicted for the Republicans (as is often the case for any president in the midterms) various names in the Democratic Party seem to be edging into the spotlight, including Ossoff, helped by this new approach to tackling Trump.
"This does help explain why the Democrats feel they're onto something now, with focusing on the White House, the people in it, and the characters around Donald Trump," says Jon.
In recent interviews Trump has ignored questions about the war in Iran and America's cost of living crisis, and instead spoken about how well his White House renovations are progressing.
"There is no evidence to suggest that he's having an affair with this woman, it's just pure innuendo we're getting," he adds.
"But I think focusing on how the court operates is entirely legitimate when Donald Trump is obsessed with what his own White House looks like, and says things like: 'Screw you America if you can't afford to fill up your car with petrol'."