US President Donald Trump counts executive assistant Natalie Harp among his “most loyal and hardworking” aides, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
However, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff’s August 16 statement suggesting that the two were more than professional acquaintances created enough controversy for the commander-in-chief to become more cautious about openly associating himself with her.
While they were seen chatting at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday, August 23, Harp was conspicuously cropped out of a video from the event posted on social media.
The snub also came amid reports that first lady Melania Trump was not a fan of Harp’s consistent presence around her husband.
Natalie Harp was left out of Trump’s latest social media footage
While Trump and Melania shared a front-row seat at the race organized to celebrate America’s milestone independence year, Natalie Harp remained in the background among other White House staffers.
At one point, however, the first lady was seen leaving the president’s side to chat with another person.
Not long after, Harp stepped into the frame to hand Trump a phone and inform him about something.
He looked at the device before turning toward her and handing it back.
A video shared from the program on White House social media accounts, however, was zoomed in enough to show only Trump’s face, effectively cutting Harp out.
A separate video showing the president and the first lady arriving at the event and speaking with participating drivers also featured no glimpse of Harp.
Ossoff, in his statement earlier this month, accused Trump of slacking off on his presidential duties while highlighting his relationship with Harp.
“He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on the apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar,” he said.
A deeply personal letter Harp sent to Trump was leaked, placing their relationship under further scrutiny
Harp not only spends time with the president at the White House but also accompanies him on several national and international tours.
One such occasion was a 2023 trip Trump took to Scotland, during which Harp was seen running behind his golf cart.
She later wrote him a letter apologizing for “embarrassing” him while trying to keep up.
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In the same correspondence, she admitted that she had starved herself and forgotten to sleep while working for him.
“I want things to always be right between us. I know I’ve been distracted all week, forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep and only catching a couple of hours at a time,” she said.
Other parts of the note show Harp labeling Trump her “guardian and protector” and claiming that he is “all that matters” to her.
Her close relationship with Trump was also reported to have allowed her to work closely with him for a year without clearing a background check.
The process is considered crucial because those working with the US commander-in-chief have regular access to sensitive administrative documents and, in some cases, handle classified national security information.
According to an August 19 report by the American cable network MS NOW, Harp agreed to cooperate with authorities on the vetting process only after personally hearing from Trump.
A political author claimed Harp’s presence around Trump has left Melania displeased
Harp is known to have visited Trump’s properties in Florida and New Jersey.
She was also among the very few people who accompanied him in a catering cart amid a security threat at Turkey’s Ankara airport on July 8.
Michael Wolff, author of books including Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House and Siege: Trump Under Fire, explained in an August 17 article for his Substack newsletter Howl that Melania rarely joined Trump on the 2024 campaign trail because of the prominent role Harp played in his life.
“Melania, whose appearances with her husband were carefully negotiated and choreographed, would not show up if Harp was around,” he wrote.
“Since Harp was always around, Melania never was — appearing with Trump only in the last week of the campaign.”
Melania’s appearance at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix came after a month-long absence from the public eye
A Daily Beast analysis found that Melania Trump had made only 38 days of public appearances this year, while Newsweek counted 34 public events featuring the first lady in a review of photographs.
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Her last prominent outing was at MetLife Stadium for the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey.
Since then, she skipped several high-profile events, including Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral on July 28 and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24.
Returning to the spotlight on Thursday, August 20, she laughed off chatter about her disappearance.
“I heard you missed me,” she said alongside President Trump at a Rose Garden event for her “Fostering the Future” initiative.
“Here I am,” she added.
She followed the appearance with her Freedom 250 Grand Prix engagement.
“This is getting creepier by the day,” a netizen said about the Trump-Harp fiasco
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