An ex-White House aide for Donald Trump is weighing in on Natalie Harp’s “extreme devotion” to and “borderline obsession” with the president, a relationship that’s seen a surge in public interest in recent days.
“I just think there’s something weird going on,” Sarah Matthews, who served as White House deputy secretary in Trump’s first term, told MS NOW on Wednesday.
She added, “And I think that a lot of aides who are working in Trump 2.0 feel the same.”
Matthews said it’s interesting that Republicans have “jumped to the conclusion” that Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who catapulted the name of Trump’s 30-something aide into the national spotlight on Sunday, was insinuating that there’s an “inappropriate or sexual relationship” between Harp and her boss.
While the MAGA world has come to the defense of Harp — who has been called the president’s “human printer” and gone to extreme measures to stay in his proximity — of late, Matthews noted that Harp is reportedly somewhat of a loner in the White House.
“And so I do think that there are a lot of people who actually look at her obsession with him and think that it’s a little odd,” Matthews concluded. “And that’s saying something for an administration full of sycophants.”
Mark Schiefelbein via Associated Press
As one of the “gatekeepers” of Trump’s social media accounts, Harp has earned a level of trust with the president that very few others possess, Matthews emphasized.
Harp, she said, is responsible for sharing “nasty things” with the president, like the racist post depicting the Obamas as apes.
“So she’s feeding him AI slop in addition to lavishing him with praise and feeding him positive tweets and news articles to boost his ego, and I think that’s why he keeps her so close,” Matthews argued.
“Because she is this sycophant who is so obsessed with him that it alarms Secret Service, but he likes the way that she makes him feel.”
Trump treats Harp “like a daughter,” has called her “sweetie,” and told staffers that she was the “only one who loved him as much as his wife and his kids,” The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman reported.
“All of you will go off and make money,” Trump told his staff, according to Swan and Haberman’s new book “Regime Change.” “She’ll never leave me.”