Just after midnight on Tuesday, Donald Trump let it be known that he is, once again, quite angry with reporter Maggie Haberman:
While Trump did not say what, specifically, “Magot Hagerman” got wrong, it seems safe to assume that he was responding to an article on Natalie Harp that makes it sound like his “devoted aide” is a little too devoted.
Earlier this year, several outlets reported that Harp was nicknamed “the human printer” on the Trump reelection campaign as she was always by the candidate’s side, bringing fawning online coverage into the physical realm. The Bulwark explained in May:
Harp, 32, occupies a unique role in the history of presidential campaigns: aide who travels with a portable printer (plus paper and rechargeable batteries in a large bag) whose job is to feed Trump a steady stream of information on 8.5-by-11-inch pieces of paper. That way, the 77-year-old doesn’t have to strain his eyes on a smartphone to read all the news that’s fit to print in MAGAville.
Harp’s path to influence began in 2019 when she appeared on Fox News and credited then-president Trump with saving her life. She said she had bone cancer, and that Trump’s Right to Try law gave her access to experimental treatments. After the appearance, she was hired as a One American News Network anchor and later by the Trump 2024 campaign.
Now, Haberman and co-author Jonathan Swan report that some other Trump aides aren’t thrilled that Harp will soon be “right outside the Oval Office.” They’re worried about her feeding the president conspiratorial online content:
… Ms. Harp also established herself at the center of a fast-moving carousel of text messages, articles, and tidbits directed at Mr. Trump. This has generated concern among other aides who feel she has been far too willing to serve as a funnel for conspiratorial information at a moment when Mr. Trump appears more contemptuous than ever of attempts to manage or control him. One of her go-to news sources, people who have observed her say, is the website Gateway Pundit, which frequently disseminates conspiracy theories embraced by the far right.
And they seem to think Harp should have stopped typing when Trump’s dictated missives — like his 40-plus post diatribe against E. Jean Carroll, and his angry texts to billionaire donor Miriam Adelson — got him into trouble. Here’s some footage of their process:
Elon should offer Natalie Harp-like assistants to old timers such as Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn, etc. who won’t post much otherwise. pic.twitter.com/3k9ynzKEZE
— David Pinsen (@dpinsen) November 26, 2024
But the detail from the New York Times story that’s getting the most attention is the revelation that Harp sent Trump several adoring letters:
In 2023, Ms. Harp sent a series of letters to Mr. Trump that unnerved people around him, according to a half-dozen people with knowledge of them.
“You are all that matters to me,” she wrote in one of the letters, which were seen by the New York Times. The letters’ authenticity was confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of them.
“I don’t ever want to let you down,” Ms. Harp wrote, thanking Mr. Trump for being her “Guardian and Protector in this Life.”
In another letter, she told Mr. Trump that she wanted to get back to “that synergy” she used to have with him, where “we’d talk about everything and nothing.”
“I want to bring you joy,” she wrote, “to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk ‘work.’”
Is it wrong to tell your employer “you are all that matters to me” and write letters expressing your deep desire to bring them “joy”? Should Harp not have done that? Is that sort of thing frowned upon?
The Times seems to think so! But I’ve got to plead ignorance on this thing. I’ve worked in a lot of offices and I tell you, people do that all the time!
