While many members of the White House team have rushed to defend President Donald Trump’s aide Natalie Harp, some aides are privately saying they are annoyed by her presence, according to CNN.

Harp was recently described in "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," a book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan published in September 2025, as someone who is always with the president and carries a battery-operated printer so he can read material on paper. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia mocked Trump for always needing Harp around and for having a number of "emotional security staffers." Trump allies quickly attacked Ossoff for supposedly alleging an affair, although that was not what he said.

Harp came to Trump’s orbit from conservative media: she hosted programming on One America News Network, joined his White House staff as a special assistant to the president during his first term, worked at his post-presidential office in Florida after he left office, and returned to the White House for his second term.

CNN reported Wednesday that while some people rushed to defend Harp publicly, others were quietly airing complaints about her behind the scenes.

Senior White House reporter Betsy Klein said the episode "really speaks to how President Trump has really disrupted traditional Republican Party power structures and hierarchies, and that has created a vacuum of talent. And in that vacuum, you have seen people coming from nontraditional political backgrounds. And the one overwhelming thing that many of them have in common is loyalty to President Trump and to his movement."

Klein said Harp’s "origin story" reflects that dynamic. She noted that Harp has credited Trump for saving her life through his "right to try" policy, which allows access to experimental treatments. The policy refers to the Right to Try Act, which Trump signed into law in 2018 to let patients with life-threatening illnesses who have exhausted approved options seek drugs that have not yet received full federal approval. Harp, who was diagnosed with bone cancer as a teenager, has said the law gave her access to an experimental treatment, and she recounted her story at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

"Now, she has since become one of President Trump's most trusted and loyal advisers," Klein said. "She is a constant and intensely dedicated presence, according to sources that we've spoke to, and at times, some of those sources say that has irked members of the president's inner circle, who have tried to take steps to box her out at times. But for President Trump, she is intensely dedicated, loyal. He appreciates her commitment."

The Haberman and Swan book includes a passage in which Trump says that other staffers would "leave" him, but Harp would not. Trump reportedly said that, in the end, it would be his family and Harp who stayed with him. The reporters also said the Secret Service and chief of staff Susie Wiles were "alarmed" by Harp. Wiles co-managed Trump’s 2024 campaign before he named her chief of staff.

In an interview with Erin Burnett on Tuesday, Harp’s brother said Trump’s best friends are people who are "in his fan club." He said Harp is "his biggest fan. And so that's probably why he likes her and, like, she's good looking." He also said Harp had written letters to other presidents. "So, her dream came true, finally," he added.

Harp’s brother previously told the Daily Mail that his sister is in an "unhealthy relationship."

CNN said it obtained a photo of Harp after a major staff fight. Harp had said Trump wanted her by his side at his New York trial — the 2024 Manhattan criminal case that ended with Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. After she was rebuffed, she climbed into the trunk of the SUV.