It was October 2023, and US President Donald Trump was preparing to leave Trump Tower for a New York courthouse, where he was due to face yet another of the legal cases occupying him at the time. As the motorcade waited outside the building, however, his aides ran into a different problem: there was no seat for Natalie Harp.

Trump’s fiercely devoted aide, who had already managed to position herself close to him, was not prepared to accept being left behind.

According to two sources cited by CNN who are familiar with the incident, a heated argument broke out in the lobby of Trump Tower, with Harp insisting that Trump himself had asked her to accompany him to court. When no seat could be found for her, she made an unusual decision: she climbed into the boot of one of the motorcade’s SUVs so she could follow him.

The previously unreported episode, according to the US network, captures the standing Harp has built for herself in recent years: an almost constant, fiercely loyal presence at Trump’s side.

Her conduct and methods have irritated senior aides to the US president at various points, and there have even been attempts to limit her access to his inner circle. Even so, none of it appears to have meaningfully dented her relationship with Trump.

From presenter to Trump’s “shadow”

Harp previously worked as a presenter on a conservative television network and began working for Trump after publicly stating that he had “saved her life”.

She gradually became one of the main channels of communication between Trump and the outside world. She passes messages to the president from political allies, arranges meetings, types up his Truth Social posts, and makes sure she has printed articles on hand that present him in a favourable light.

All the while, she remains almost constantly within a very short distance of the president, at virtually any hour of the day.

“He likes the attention, and the fact that she is 100 percent devoted and loyal,” a White House adviser said. “She never doubts, never questions.”

The reference that put her back in the spotlight

Harp’s relationship with Trump was back under scrutiny this week after Democratic senator Jon Ossoff named her in a speech attacking the US president that went viral.

The Georgia senator made a mocking reference to Trump’s trips “with Natalie on their apparently indefensible flying palace, a gift from the emir of Qatar”.

The remark related to the fact that Harp was among the extremely small group of people who accompanied the president last July when he secretly boarded a smaller aircraft to leave Turkey because of a threat from Iran.

The comment triggered an angry response from the White House, which repeatedly attacked Ossoff, branding him among other things “pathetic” and “a nobody, a failure”. At the same time, Harp found herself the focus of intense interest on social media.

Harp’s rapid rise within Trump’s world stands out chiefly for the intensity of her devotion to the president since she joined his staff in 2022.

Although she held no official title during his campaign to return to the White House, she followed him across the country, making sure he had a steady supply of favourable coverage, social media posts, and every kind of correspondence.

She handed him printed material so frequently that people in Trump’s circle nicknamed her the “human printer”.

Just how indispensable she has become to communication with the president was described by a Republican congressman. He said that even when he communicates directly with Trump, he always makes sure to loop Harp in as well.

“She always replies. I don’t know how she keeps on top of it all,” he said, adding that besides passing messages to Trump, Harp frequently sends lawmakers and senators articles or notes on the president’s behalf, personally.

Always by his side at the White House

Since Trump’s return to the White House, Harp’s presence has become even more constant.

In footage from executive order signings and other events in the Oval Office, the 35-year-old is often seen at the edge of the room, smiling or nodding along as the president speaks.

She is also frequently part of the small group of aides who accompany him when he travels to political rallies. “Natalie is so fast,” Trump has remarked to allies after asking her to track something down or print it out for him.

Friction with Trump’s aides

This near-constant presence, however, has caused irritation within the White House.

Some of Trump’s advisers have at times tried to meet privately with the president, only to find Harp there too.

A source familiar with how the president’s inner circle operates also says the 35-year-old is notably protective of her access to Trump. She has reportedly told other aides that she answers only to him, something that has irritated officials who operate according to the White House’s formal chain of command.

Another official, however, played down these complaints, arguing that Harp works effectively with most of her colleagues, takes part in preparing announcements, and makes sure relevant information reaches the right people each time.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended Harp on Tuesday, describing her as “one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President Trump’s team”.

A “father-daughter relationship”

People close to the White House also criticised Ossoff’s reference to Harp, arguing that it created false insinuations about an aide who remains largely unknown to the wider electorate and had done nothing to warrant that kind of public attention.

A person familiar with their relationship described her bond with Trump as a “father and daughter” relationship.

Even among those who have long viewed the unusually large influence Harp has gained in the West Wing with suspicion, few believe this fresh burst of publicity will weaken her position, and even fewer believe it will change Trump’s own attitude towards her.

The racist video of the Obamas

Earlier this year, Trump caused an uproar when he posted, and later deleted, a racist video depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys in a jungle.

The post, made late at night, drew criticism from across the political spectrum, generated a wave of negative coverage, and forced Trump and his aides to look for a way to manage the fallout.

Within the president’s circle, allies and advisers were reportedly weighing privately whether Harp might have been behind the post, since she was one of a limited number of aides with access to Trump’s Truth Social account.

According to one source, however, they were reluctant to name her publicly or place the blame on her.