The estranged brother of Natalie Harp, President Donald Trump’s 34-year-old executive assistant, has gone public with sharp criticism of her devotion to the 80-year-old president. Preston Harp, 38, who now lives in Nicaragua, says the dynamic between the two is “very unhealthy.”
Preston called the president a “national embarrassment” and said he found it baffling that anyone in his family would accept a White House position.
Love Letters That Alarmed the Secret Service
Long before Harp held an official White House position, she was leaving glowing handwritten letters for Trump in areas of his residence reserved for his private use. New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan detail these incidents in their book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” noting that one such letter declared, “You are all that matters to me.”
The letters unsettled future White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who was caught off guard by the intensity of Harp’s devotion. Author Michael Wolff described similar episodes in his book about the 2024 Republican presidential race, writing that those around Trump knew of Harp’s intense focus on him and that her notes portrayed her as “unworthy” of his support. The situation alarmed the Secret Service enough that agents considered Harp a potential threat to Trump before she formally joined his staff.
Trump himself has spoken about Harp in strikingly personal terms. Early in his second term, he told members of his team that she was the only person outside his immediate family who loved him as deeply as they did, and suggested to other aides that while they might eventually move on to pursue outside opportunities, Harp never would.
From Fan to Fixture in Trump’s Inner Circle
Natalie Harp’s path to becoming one of President Trump’s most indispensable aides began at a 2019 event where she credited him with saving her life. She told Trump that the Right to Try Act, which he signed into law, had given her access to experimental treatment for bone cancer. Before formally joining his official team, Harp had been a host at the right-wing cable network One America News (OAN) — a role she took on after working as a Trump campaign surrogate and speaking at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
She attached herself to Trump’s orbit in 2022, initially without any formal title or defined responsibilities. Over time, she became a constant presence at his side and eventually assumed the role of executive assistant. She has earned the nickname “human printer” because she follows the president with a portable printer, creating hard copies of emails and articles for him to review.
A Family Divided by Grief and Politics
The friction between Preston and his sister runs far deeper than a political disagreement. The siblings grew up in very different corners of the same household — Natalie gravitated toward their mother, whom Preston describes as “extremely conservative” and “deeply religious,” while Preston was closer to their father, Robert Harp.
In July 2020, Robert Harp died by suicide, a fact confirmed by an Orange County coroner in California. Preston said his mother and Natalie wanted to characterize the death differently, which drove a permanent wedge between him and the rest of his family. He has had no contact with either his sister or his mother since then and said other relatives have also drifted away from the two women.
Preston only learned his sister had become a fixture in Trump’s world in 2023, when a friend passed along a news article about her role as Trump’s new assistant. Preston said the discovery caused a kind of cognitive dissonance and that he could not understand why his sister — or anyone — would want to work for Trump.
White House Stands Behind Harp
Described as a “long-haired hippie,” Preston cuts a striking contrast to his sister, who operates at the center of one of the most high-profile administrations in recent memory.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against any suggestion that Harp’s role or conduct is problematic, calling her one of the most loyal and hardworking members of President Trump’s team. Leavitt did not, however, directly address the specific concerns raised about the nature of the relationship between Harp and the president.
