A conservative California upbringing paved Natalie Harp’s way to Trump
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- Harp and her brother were home-schooled in San Diego by their mother, who used educational materials written from a biblical worldview.
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who → pave → worldview
- In her mid-20s, Harp moved with her parents to Irvine to be closer to their father’s work at Biola University.
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Harp → move → University
Harp credits President Trump with saving her life by signing into law a bill that allows terminally ill patients access to certain experimental drugs before final FDA approval.
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that → credit → approval
Before the 35-year-old White House aide made headlines for her close access to President Trump, much of her early life was spent in Southern California, where she was home-schooled and attended a mega-church on Sundays — a quiet upbringing that, her brother says, was defined by conservative values and Christian teachings.
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brother → make → values
Their mother taught them at home using educational materials written from a biblical worldview.
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mother → teach → worldview
The family would attend services regularly at Shadow Mountain Church in El Cajon, where pastors would deliver sermons like the one from a recent Sunday, calling on God to use its thousands of congregants “in a way that turns this world upside down.”
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that → attend → world
“We were raised with the idea that America was God’s gift to the world and it’s the only place that people really live in freedom,” Preston Harp, her brother, told The Times.
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Harp → raise → Times
Years later, in 2019, Harp’s ascent into Trump’s orbit began, when she went on Fox News to credit a healthcare bill Trump signed into law with saving her from a rare form of cancer — a story that later caught the president’s attention.
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that → begin → attention
As that relationship took hold, the California family bubble she’d been raised in was bursting behind the scenes, culminating with her father’s suicide in July 2020.
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she → take → July
A month later, Harp emerged on the national stage, introducing herself as a “formerly forgotten American from California” at the Republican National Convention, where she declared her devotion to Trump.
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she → emerge → Trump
“I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you,” she said.
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she → say → you
Now, she spends her days working as a special assistant to Trump, a man she has described, in highly personal letters, as her “guardian and protector.”
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she → spend → guardian
In those letters, published by the Daily Beast, she has thanked the president for “always being there” for her and alluded to a “promise” Trump made to her after she lost her dad.
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she → publish → dad
Officials called on the federal government to expedite $2 billion needed to make L.A. traffic-ready for the 2028 Games.
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L.A. → call → Games
Harp’s taxpayer-funded job, with its unmatched access to the president, mostly happens away from the public eye.
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job → fund → eye
She has been called the “human printer” because she follows Trump with a portable printer to provide Trump with hard copies of flattering news coverage or information the computer-averse president requires.
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president → call → coverage
She also stays up late drafting social media posts with the president, the New York Times reported.
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Times → stay → president
Several of Trump’s Truth Social posts have generated controversy in recent months, including an AI-generated image showing him as Jesus in a white robe laying his hands on a sick man.
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Several → generate → man
Those who know her describe her as detail-oriented and a “devoted staffer to the cause” whose tight-knit circle includes those closest to Trump, such as Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, and Karoline Leavitt, the White House’s former press secretary.
“Just like many of the administration officials, you become friends with your co-workers,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican who talks to Harp on a weekly basis, said in an interview.
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who → know → interview
Harp is “almost always” with Wiles, Luna said.
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Luna → say → Wiles
The congresswoman added that her relationship with the president is “100% professional,” and that any suggestion otherwise is an attempt to smear her.
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suggestion → add → her
“She’s been nothing but professional and an absolute killer when it comes to getting her job done,” Luna said.
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Luna → come → ?
“I would kill to have someone like her on my team.”
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I → kill → team
“My mom raised us as super conservative, and he’s everything that she taught us to respect,” he said.
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he → raise → us
The White House declined to comment.
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House → decline → ?
A California native in Trump world
As a kid in the San Diego neighborhood of Carmel Valley, Harp played with old-fashioned dolls and spent a lot of time reading, her brother said.
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brother → play → time
For school, their mother used a curriculum from Bob Jones University Press, whose material focused on “biblical worldview shaping,” according to its website.
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material → use → website
“We start with God’s truth as the standard,” the website states.
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website → start → standard
“Scripture serves as the blueprint for how we put together our textbooks so that every lesson begins with truth.”
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lesson → serve → truth
Growing up, Harp spent most of her time with adults, especially her mother, and would rarely socialize with her peers, her brother recalled.
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brother → grow → peers
Even at church, she would opt to sit with the adults instead of spending time with the youth group.
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she → opt → group
“There would be like skateboarding demos, there would be cool stuff going on, but my sister was just with all the grown-ups, and she preferred it,” he said.
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he → go → it
Harp and her brother were close as young children but drifted apart as they got older.
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they → drift → children
Preston Harp found an outlet skateboarding and surfing with friends, and Harp opted to stay close to home, he said.
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he → find → home
At some point, their mother began policing their discussions, particularly as he started espousing more progressive beliefs, her brother recalled.
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brother → begin → beliefs
“I wasn’t really allowed to be in her life,” he said.
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he → allow → life
“If we ever talked on the phone my mom was listening to everything we’d say, and they were talking on the phone together with me on speakerphone.”
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they → talk → speakerphone
Harp declined to comment for this story through a request sent to the White House.
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Harp → decline → House
Her mother did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.
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mother → respond → comment
In her mid-20s, Harp moved with her parents to Irvine to be closer to their father’s work at Biola University, a private Christian institution in La Mirada, southeast of Los Angeles.
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Harp → move → Angeles
…and 56 more, not listed.
