As we’ve learned in recent weeks, Natalie Harp rarely leaves the president’s side, and Sunday’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix was no exception. What was odd was that even though Harp was clearly among the president’s entourage, she was mostly invisible in the White
House social media coverage of the race. The administration has been trying to do damage control as public scrutiny over the relationship between the president and Harp intensifies, and it seems that not even an appearance by the reclusive first lady or mountains of media intrigue can convince her to leave his side for any length of time.
In broadcasts of the event, Harp was clearly visible among Trump’s guests. In the president’s suite she was spotted standing behind and to the right of Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who has reportedly found herself at odds with Harp over her increasingly controversial relationship with her husband. Shocking. Someone in the press office, it seems, is trying to lower the temperature.
A clip of Trump waving the starting flag for the IndyCar race held on the National Mall on Sunday was oddly cropped. Half of the Fox Sports logo was missing, the first lady had an arm almost entirely cut out of the frame. Zoom out and the full picture shows Harp hovering just beyond the first lady’s shoulder.
Cameras also captured the first lady standing up and leaving her suite shortly after Harp arrived and approached the president, lingering behind him as he spoke to another guest.
Harp, a 35 year aide to the president, has over the last few years become one of the most powerful — if least known — figures within Trump’s inner circle. She shares control of his social media, is his confidant and informant, travels with him virtually everywhere, and acts as a gatekeeper for his time and attention. Her status as a background character in the attention-hungry MAGA universe ended this summer, as reports emerged of the deep — passionate to the point of concern — devotion that she holds for the president.
‘Last week, The Daily Beast and Michael Wolff published two letters written by Harp and reportedly left in the president’s personal quarters — alarming the Secret Service.
Referring to Trump as her “Guardian and Protector in this Life,” Harp gushed over the president. “I never want to bring you anything but joy,” she wrote. “You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down.”
And if anyone was writing that to my husband, you’d bet I’d want her cropped out of the photos.
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