Harping on Natalie

By Abe Greenwald

When it comes to Donald Trump, there’s no such thing as a small story. Even with the war in Iran, the coming midterms, and the flap over the White House ballroom, Natalie Harp would become a household name. 

All the fuss began a week and a half ago, when Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia made a dig about the two of them. Trump, he said, “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar." Ossoff was referring to Trump’s covertly switching planes on his return from Turkey in July. The president had left Marco Rubio (and others) on the possibly targeted Air Force One while making off with a small group including Harp.

This became a juicy story for several reasons. Harp is an attractive young woman who's always at Trump’s side, and Ossoff seemed to be insinuating that there’s something inappropriate about their mutual fondness. And when Ossoff, a possible Democratic contender in 2028, then denied that he was implying anything of the sort, a bipartisan game of gotcha was underway. While Republicans voiced their disgust over Ossoff’s innuendo, Democrats and liberal media went digging into Harp.

Which is interesting. Because while the left went looking for dirt in the life and letters and family members of a young woman who had survived bone cancer, lost her father to suicide, and committed the crime of working for Trump, feminists were beginning to organize in support of Lindsay Clancy, a suburban mother who had killed her three small children.  

That’s just an aside I couldn’t resist. What’s more surprising is that the tale of the president and his loyal aide makes Trump look better than any story I’ve ever read about him.

Natalie Harp was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer around 2015, and chemotherapy proved ineffective. In 2018, Trump signed the Right to Try Act, which allows gravely ill patients to try experimental medical treatments that aren’t yet approved by the FDA. Harp availed herself of one of these treatments and credits it (and Trump) with saving her life. 

In 2020, Harp’s father killed himself. She wrote in a 2023 letter to Trump, “Thank you for always being there for me—I’ll never forget when you made that promise to me after losing my Dad...” She doesn’t spell out what the promise was, but later in the same letter, there’s this: “Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life.” 

I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Trump had promised to look out for Harp after her father died. 

The thing is, he made good on it. Not only is she by his side at the White House, but when the presidential entourage was exposed to potential danger, Trump was sure to include her under his protective umbrella.

Had Donald Trump ever looked so wise, warm, and dependable? He rightly authorized the use of experimental treatments on the seriously ill, seemingly saving Natalie Harp’s life. When she met with further tragedy and lost her father, Trump apparently pledged to step in as a kind of surrogate protector—and, boy, has he followed through. 

The media have made a lot out of the flowery and slavish praise for Trump in Harp’s letters. “You are all that matters to me,” “I never want to bring you anything but joy,” “I don’t want to ever let you down,” and so on. If Trump had done for me all that he’s done for her, my love letters to the man would make hers look like the dashed-off scribblings of an ingrate. 

So, for the love of God, leave the woman alone. 

Abe Greenwald is the executive editor of COMMENTARY.