US news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-19 · by David Smith in Washington
Story summary
Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old Californian and cancer survivor, has become one of Donald Trump's closest and most devoted aides, working as his special assistant to the president and executive assistant on an annual salary of $150,000. She was introduced at the 2020 Republican national convention as "a formerly forgotten American from California" and compared Trump with George Bailey from the film "It's a Wonderful Life". Harp has been in the spotlight recently after Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator, accused Trump of wanting to "build his ballroom and travel with Natalie" instead of attending to official duties.
Harp has been nicknamed the "human printer" for supplying Trump with print-outs of information. However, her role in the administration has come under scrutiny, including reports that she was smuggled onto a military plane with Trump to escape a suspected Iranian threat and sat in the trunk of an SUV to accompany him to a courthouse in 2023.
Trump reportedly joked that Harp could replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary, but this has raised questions about her security clearance. It was discovered that Harp worked at the White House for over a year without the routine clearance, refusing to file the relevant forms until the White House counsel's office intervened.
Harp has also been criticized for writing letters to Trump expressing her devotion to him, calling herself "unworthy" of serving him. Michael Wolff, an author who has written about Trump, revealed that Harp was granted a special perk when she first joined his team - access to an exclusive Sunday buffet at Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Written for “Natalie Harp Aide Scandal” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
Wearing shoulder-length blonde hair, gold earrings and a red dress, cancer survivor Natalie Harp introduced herself to the 2020 Republican national convention as “a formerly forgotten American from California” and compared Donald Trump with George Bailey, the everyman hero played by James Stewart in the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life.
asserted
It → wear → film
“George Bailey’s father was right,” smiled Harp, her voice echoing in the Andrew W Mellon auditorium in pandemic-hit Washington.
asserted
voice → smile → Washington
“All you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.
asserted
you → take → which
Mr President, that makes you the richest man in the world.”
asserted
you → make → world
Her unofficial job title is the “human printer” for supplying him with print-outs of information.
asserted
title → supply → information
But all that changed this week when Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator and possible 2028 presidential contender, accused Trump in a campaign speech of wanting to “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” instead of doing his job.
asserted
Ossoff → change → job
The remark triggered a tsunami of online speculation about the precise nature of the relationship and a furious backlash.
asserted
remark → trigger → relationship
On Monday Trump lashed out at CNN reporter Kristen Holmes after she asked a question about Ossoff’s comments, while the White House’s anonymous “Rapid Response” team posted at Holmes: “Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question.”
asserted
children → lash → question
Far from dousing the flames, the White House had in fact poured kerosene on them, inadvertently enhancing Ossoff’s national standing among Democrats and inviting millions of people to ask the same question.
asserted
House → douse → question
The 35-year-old Californian graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University, a Christian liberal arts college in San Diego, in 2012 and earned an MBA from Liberty University, an evangelical college founded by Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 2015.
Four years later, as Trump was mounting a bid for re-election, Harp wrote a post on LinkedIn entitled: “I’m Living Proof – the Party of Healthcare is Trump’s.”
asserted
Party → graduate → Healthcare
Recalling her experience with bone cancer, it explained: “On November 9, 2015 – a year to the day Donald Trump would win the presidency – a nurse mixed up my IV with the deadly substance of sterile water leaving me housebound and searching for care.
asserted
nurse → recall → care
“Instead of studying my symptoms to diagnose my condition, my Democrat-controlled state and country offered me opioids, barbiturates, medical marijuana, disability, Do-Not-Resuscitate orders, and yes, Death With Dignity.
asserted
state → study → Dignity
Before one appointment, I was even instructed in the voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED).”
asserted
I → instruct → eating
Harp praised Trump’s signing of the 2018 Right to Try Act for giving her the opportunity to access experimental treatments that proved successful.
asserted
that → praise → treatments
“My oncologist didn’t tell me I had other options,” she said.
asserted
she → tell → options
“Donald Trump did …
asserted
Trump → do → ?
Now my numbers are stabilizing and so is my pain.”
asserted
pain → stabilize → ?
The LinkedIn post caught the eye of Rupert Murdoch’s conservative Fox News network, which invited Harp on air to talk about it.
asserted
which → catch → it
Trump responded on social media: “Natalie Harp, fighting Stage 2 Cancer and doing really well, was a GREAT guest on @foxandfriends.
asserted
Harp → respond → @foxandfriends
Right To Try is producing some truly spectacular results.
asserted
Right → try → results
That led to Harp’s speech in praise of Trump at the Republican national convention, a month after the death of her father.
asserted
That → lead → father
She managed to take a swipe at Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) after offering a message to Trump: “I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you.”
asserted
it → manage → you
But a Washington Post article cast doubt on the claim, noting that experts point out that “Harp’s description of the treatment she received and her timeline for receiving it make it unlikely Trump had any effect on her case.”
uncertain
Trump → cast → case
Still, Harp and her mother quit California and moved into an 18th-floor apartment in West Palm Beach, Florida, three miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
asserted
Harp → quit → estate
In 2020 Harp joined the far-right One America News Network (OANN), where as a presenter she amplified Trump’s “big lie” that the presidential election had been stolen by Joe Biden.
asserted
election → join → Biden
Harp left OANN in 2022 and began working for Trump, then a former president facing criminal cases and mounting a seemingly unlikely bid to return to the White House.
asserted
Harp → leave → House
She fed him a diet of good news on the election campaign trail.
asserted
She → feed → trail
The New York Times reported in 2024: “She has no official title, but during the campaign, colleagues referred to her as the ‘human printer’ because she followed Mr Trump around with a portable printer and a battery pack to charge it, so she could hand him information in hard copy, as he prefers.”
uncertain
he → report → copy
Now that Trump has returned to the Oval Office, Harp is frequently seen at his side and has become an indispensable aide.
asserted
Harp → return → side
Last month, when the president was forced to secretly swap planes in Turkey because of an alleged Iranian assassination threat, she was one of the few people to join him on a military plane while other staff and journalists remained on a decoy Air Force One.
asserted
staff → force → One
One acquaintance of Harp, who did not wish to be named, said on Tuesday: “Nobody questioned [deputy chief of staff] Dan Scavino being on the military plane but frankly Natalie is a lot more capable than Dan Scavino in a lot of areas.
asserted
Natalie → wish → areas
She is beautiful by any definition and because of that people don’t understand how intelligent, articulate, loyal, trustworthy and engaged she is with politics.”
asserted
she → understand → politics
‘Guardian and Protector’
Harp also plays an outsized role in shaping both Trump’s worldview and his output.
asserted
Harp → play → worldview
She reportedly shows him proposed Truth Social posts – often containing recycled content – then logs into his account to publish them.
uncertain
She → show → them
These have included a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes and an AI-generated image portraying Trump as Jesus Christ, according to the Wall Street Journal.
uncertain
These → include → Journal
In the book Regime Change published this year, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan wrote that Harp’s loyalty extended to writing Trump “adoring letters” including one that read: “You are all that matters to me.”
asserted
that → publish → me
In one she wrote: “I want to bring you joy, to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk ‘work.’”
asserted
we → write → work
In another she said, “I don’t ever want to let you down” and described Trump as her “Guardian and Protector in this Life”.
asserted
I → say → Life
Haberman and Swan also described a typical scene: “Harp was generally on a chair off to the side, her laptop open, head cocked, listening but never contributing unless ordered to by Trump.
asserted
head → describe → Trump
She fulfilled, in a flash, any request, whether a ‘Trump 2028’ that needed to be fetched from the merchandise room, a quick Google search, or producing the latest story from rightwing websites like Breitbart or Gateway Pundit.”
asserted
that → fulfil → Breitbart
…and 8 more, not listed.
