4 min learnNew DelhiUp to date: Aug 20, 2026 06:34 AM IST
There has just lately been an uncommon quantity of consideration on Natalie Harp, a comparatively little-known however extremely trusted aide to US President Donald Trump. Harp has been near Trump for years, ceaselessly travelling with him and serving to handle the knowledge he sees and the posts he places out. So why has she out of the blue grow to be a topic of political controversy?
The reply lies in a comment by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff — and within the livid response it provoked from the Trump administration.
Who’s Natalie Harp?
Harp, 35, grew up in California and graduated from Level Loma Nazarene College, a Christian liberal arts faculty in San Diego, in 2012. She then earned an MBA from Liberty College, an evangelical college in Virginia, in 2015.
Natalie Harp, govt assistant to Donald Trump (Wikimedia Commons)
She first got here into nationwide prominence due to her expertise with most cancers. In 2019, Harp wrote a LinkedIn put up titled “I’m Residing Proof – the Get together of Healthcare is Trump’s”, describing her battle with bone most cancers and crediting Trump’s 2018 Proper to Attempt regulation with serving to her new remedies.
The Proper to Attempt regulation permits terminally unwell sufferers to entry experimental remedies which have handed solely Part 1 security testing, with no need the FDA’s approval. She stated Democrats centered extra on dwelling with ache and ‘dying with dignity’ than treatment. “Based on the Democrats, healthcare is a proper. However a proper to what — all the above? No, thanks. Donald Trump would change a letter of that. Healthcare is a combat,” she stated in her put up.
This attracted the eye of Fox Information, which invited Harp to debate her expertise. Trump subsequently praised her publicly. She was then invited to talk on the 2020 Republican Nationwide Conference, the place she advised Trump: “I wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for you.” A later Washington Publish report questioned whether or not the remedy she acquired might truly be attributed to the Proper to Attempt regulation, with consultants disputing the timeline.
How did she get so near Trump?
After her look on the Republican conference, Harp moved deeper into Trump’s political orbit. She and her mom left California for Florida, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property. In 2020, she joined One America Information Community, the place she labored as a presenter and promoted Trump’s claims that the 2020 election had been stolen. She left OANN in 2022 and commenced working instantly for Trump.
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Throughout Trump’s marketing campaign to return to the White Home, she turned identified amongst colleagues because the “human printer”. Based on The New York Occasions, she adopted Trump with a transportable printer and battery pack, supplying him with printed information and data as a result of he prefers studying issues on paper.
In the present day, Harp is formally a particular assistant to the president and govt assistant to the president, with an annual wage of $150,000, in accordance with The Guardian. She is ceaselessly at Trump’s side and is concerned in his communications, together with exhibiting him proposed Reality Social posts and publishing materials on his account.
Why is she within the headlines now?
Her proximity was highlighted final month when Trump secretly switched plane in Turkey due to an alleged Iranian assassination menace. Harp was among the many small group of aides who accompanied him on the army airplane, whereas different employees and journalists remained on the airplane supposedly in danger.
The problem blew up after feedback by Ossoff. At a marketing campaign speech just lately, the Georgia senator accused Trump of preferring to “construct his ballroom and journey with Natalie” moderately than doing his job as President.
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The Trump administration reacted furiously. Trump attacked CNN reporter Kristen Holmes when she requested him about Ossoff’s feedback, whereas the White Home’s “Speedy Response” account accused Holmes of asking a “disgusting and inhumane” query.
Political analysts imagine that Ossoff’s moderately provocative feedback had been meant to get him limelight and enhance his profile. The Trump administration’s response appears to have had that actual impact, with extra limelight on each Harp and Ossoff.
