Natalie Harp, 35, Trump aide known as the “human printer,” draws scrutiny

Natalie Harp, 35, a former bone-cancer patient who later became a close aide to Donald Trump, has come under renewed public scrutiny after Democratic Senator John Ossoff criticised the president for spending time travelling with Harp instead of attending to official duties and for building a ceremonial hall. The White House’s forceful response and President Trump’s attack on reporters who requested comment have only sharpened interest in Harp’s role inside the presidential circle.

Background and rise to public attention

Harp graduated from a Christian college in San Diego in 2012 and earned an MBA from Liberty University in Virginia in 2015. Her public profile began in 2019, when she posted on LinkedIn that experimental therapies made available under a law passed during the Trump administration had saved her life after a serious medical error.

After a segment on Fox News brought wider attention to her story, Harp spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2020. There she compared Trump to George Bailey from the film It’s a Wonderful Life and praised him as “the richest man in the world” for helping ordinary people. A later analysis in The Washington Post, however, quoted medical experts who concluded the timing of her treatment made it unlikely that the Trump-era regulatory changes had a direct effect on her care.

Following the convention, Harp relocated to Florida near the Mar-a-Lago estate and worked as a host for One America News Network (OANN), where she supported Trump’s claims about the 2020 presidential election. In 2022 she formally joined Trump’s campaign team; colleagues at the time nicknamed her the “human printer” because she reportedly followed him carrying a portable printer to hand him printed briefings and materials the way he preferred.

Today Harp serves as a special and executive assistant to the president with an annual salary of $150,000. She has influence over his posts on Truth Social and frequently travels with him — including during a recent emergency change of government aircraft in Turkey prompted by security threats. In a book by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Harp is described as having written devoted letters to Trump in which she portrayed him as a protector.

Her brother, Preston Harp, told reporters that she views Trump as a father figure who embodies the idea of American exceptionalism. Political analysts say the administration’s sharp reaction to Senator Ossoff’s comments achieved the opposite of its intent, raising further questions and increasing public curiosity about her access and power inside the Oval Office.

Photo: Bela kukja)