White House Mounts Swift Defense of Trump After Ossoff's Jab Over Aide Natalie Harp
Key Takeaways
- •Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat seeking re-election in November, said at an Atlanta rally that Trump would rather build a White House ballroom and travel with aide Natalie Harp than do his job.
- •White House communications officials Steven Cheung and Davis Ingle quickly posted personal insults aimed at Ossoff, and the White House denounced a reporter's question about the remark as a "cheap shot."
- •A person close to the White House told Semafor that the forceful response partly reflects the first lady's displeasure with such matters and the president's tendency to become furious over personal topics.
- •Natalie Harp, a former One America News Network host serving as Trump's personal aide, is frequently at the president's side and carries a portable printer to produce news stories for him on demand.
- •Harp's closeness to Trump has unsettled some aides, sparked unfounded relationship rumors, and estranged her from family members, including her brother Preston, who has described the relationship as "very unhealthy."
The White House sprang into action Monday after a pointed jab at President Donald Trump over his relationship with his 35-year-old aide, and one insider revealed Tuesday why the remark appeared to strike such a nerve.
Over the weekend, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) criticized Trump during a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, name-dropping the president's 35-year-old assistant, Natalie Harp. Ossoff argued that Trump would rather "build his ballroom and travel with Natalie" than "do his job," a line that leaned on the president's publicly announced plan to build a ballroom at the White House. The Atlanta rally came as Ossoff, Georgia's junior senator, seeks re-election in November in a state Trump carried in 2024.
Within hours, the White House leaped into action. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung called Ossoff the "biggest cuck loser in politics" (post on X), while White House spokesperson Davis Ingle attacked the senator as a "cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid" and a "lightweight loser" (post on X).
When a reporter asked Trump about Ossoff's remark on Monday, the White House quickly denounced the question as a "cheap shot" and described the reporter as a "scumbag" (post on X).
The force of the response drew attention, and a Semafor report published Tuesday offered an explanation from one person close to the White House. The individual said Harp "will ultimately jump the highest out of anyone in the room when he says jump," adding that the aggressive pushback is partly because "the first lady doesn't like these types of things" and Trump "does get furious" about personal topics.
Harp, a former One America News Network host who joined Trump's staff as a personal aide, is a near-constant presence at the president's side and has often been photographed carrying a portable printer that she uses to produce news stories for him on demand. According to Semafor, that proximity to Trump has unnerved some of his aides and sparked unfounded rumors about a relationship.
Harp's close relationship with the president has also estranged her from some of her family members, including her own brother, who has described her relationship with Trump as "very unhealthy."
"It just kind of caused some cognitive dissonance," Preston Harp, Natalie Harp's 38-year-old estranged brother, told the Daily Mail in June. "I don't understand why my sister, or anyone, could want to work for Trump. It's hard to believe that's my sister... I can't connect with that vibe, so I'm just going to let it be."
