Marc A. Caputo at The Bulwark: WHENEVER DONALD TRUMP BRANDISHES a stack of papers or reads a printout of a social media post, he’s relying on the work of Natalie Harp.
Harp, 32, occupies a unique role in the history of presidential campaigns: aide who travels with a portable printer (plus paper and rechargeable batteries in a large bag) whose job is to feed Trump a steady stream of information on 8.5×11″ pieces of paper. That way, the 77-year-old doesn’t have to strain his eyes on a smartphone to read all the news that’s fit to print in MAGAville.
Harp’s nickname on the campaign—“the human printer”—underplays her importance. That’s because in Trump’s orbit, proximity to the principal is power. And with her portable printer at the ready, Harp is constantly around Trump—whether she’s sitting close to the defense table in the Manhattan courthouse on weekdays or riding the links with Trump on Sundays in Florida.
Perhaps more than anyone else, Harp gatekeeps much of what Trump sees on social media and reads in the news.
“IF YOU WANT THE PRESIDENT TO SEE SOMETHING, the best route is Natalie,” says a knowledgeable source who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the internal workings of Trump’s inner team and who has passed information to the candidate via Harp. “Don’t underestimate her importance.”
It’s been an interesting journey for Harp. She comes from a conservative Christian family in California and graduated from Liberty University in 2015.
Harp appears to have entered Trump’s orbit in 2019. The year before, Trump signed into law the Right to Try Act, which makes it easier for terminally ill patients to access experimental therapies; Harp said it helped her beat Stage 2 cancer, saving her life. Trump first gushed about her in a birthday Fox & Friends interview on June 14, 2019, when he called attention to the story of “that young, beautiful woman.” (Harp’s looks are a recurring theme in coverage of her.)
Twelve days after the Fox interview, Trump called Harp onstage at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, where gave her the highest praise: “She lit up the television screen like very few people I’ve ever seen do it.”
Because there is a first time for everything, Harp then likened Trump to the Good Samaritan.
Harp eventually came to work for Trump’s 2020 campaign and delivered another speech at the Republican National Committee. (This time she compared him to Jimmy Stewart’s character in It’s a Wonderful Life.)
After 2020, Harp became a One American News Network anchor, where she promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. She was then hired on to the Trump 2024 campaign last year.
Trump has told others that he appreciates Harp’s dedication and she aligns ideologically with him. She tends to flag items about voter fraud and internal Republican enemies, topics for which Trump has a limitless appetite.
Harp also helps manage Trump’s Truth Social media account and has taken over some of the duties from Trump’s former caddy-turned-senior-adviser Dan Scavino.
This can be a taxing job. On Monday, while he was on trial in New York, Trump’s Truth Social media account reposted a video, published first on X by a supporter using the handle @ramble_rants, called “What happens after Trump wins?” The video featured mock old-fashioned newspaper headlines. One of the sepia-toned faux-newspaper stock images included the phrase “Unified Reich.” Maybe not the best look for a candidate who has dined with actual neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and “joked” that he would like to be a dictator for a day.
After the Associated Press reported about the video, the Trump campaign deleted the Truth Social post and said Trump wasn’t at fault.
“This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a junior staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the President was in court,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a written statement that accused Democrats of being more antisemitic than Trump. The campaign wouldn’t identify the name of that “junior staffer,” but sources tell The Bulwark it was Harp. Scavino, one of the few others who has access to Trump’s Truth Social account, isn’t a “junior staffer.” Harp couldn’t be reached for comment.
More here.
Well Trump is pretty popular and very good chance that he will win elections. Some excellent think tanks and strategists are with him.