Donald Trump is known for surrounding himself with ardent loyalists, but one aide has attracted particular attention of late. Natalie Harp, who is frequently seen with the president and reportedly helps run his Truth Social account, was one of the few people to join Trump on a military plane flying out of Turkey in July. That secret flight was arranged to avoid a suspected Iranian threat against the president, but sparked backlash when it emerged Trump left other staff and journalists behind on a decoy Air Force One.
Democratic rising star Senator Jon Ossoff took shots at Trump over the incident in a rally speech Sunday, claiming the commander-in-chief would rather “travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace,” than do his job. Below we look at what we know about Harp, and how she became one of the president’s supporters. The 35 year-old Californian came to prominence in 2019, when she appeared on stage at a D.C. conference and praised Trump for signing the 2018 Right to Try Act.
Harp, who battled stage II bone cancer, claimed both the “political” and “medical establishment” had left her behind, but that “Good Samaritan” Trump helped her. Trump later invited her to speak onstage at the 2020 Republican National Convention in favor of the act. Once again, Harp credited Trump’s health care policy with saving her life and even compared him to Jimmy Stewart’s character in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Harp’s estranged brother Preston told The Daily Mail that the pair were homeschooled together and raised by an “extremely conservative” mother. Eventually, Preston grew apart from his mother and sister but remained close with his father, who died in 2020, a month before Harp made the speech at the RNC. The book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan looked at how Harp remained an ardent supporter of Trump between his presidencies.
She eventually joined his staff in 2022 following a stint hosting a show on One America News Network. Harp is reportedly the primary White House staffer helping the president churn out posts on Truth Social. The aide compiles posts from allies or fans praising the president, bolstering familiar conspiracy theories, condemning Democrats or insulting Trump’s opponents for the president to review, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Once Trump approves the content, via physically printed-out drafts, Harp goes onto the president’s Truth Social account and posts them – often during off-hours such as late at night, over the weekend or even on holidays, it is claimed. To keep the president’s spirits up, Harp would carry around a laptop and sometimes a printer to physically show him articles, earning her the nickname the “human printer,” The New York Times added. Ronny Jackson, the president’s former physician, told Fox News Digital in 2024.
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