White House aide Natalie Harp was back at President Donald Trump’s side on Aug. 21, boarding Marine One and Air Force One for a trip to South Carolina one day after two intensely personal letters attributed to her were published in full.
Harp joined Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as the presidential party traveled from Washington to Joint Base Andrews before continuing to Myrtle Beach. The appearance came during heightened scrutiny of Harp’s access to the president, her role inside the White House and the newly published documents.
The letters date to 2023 and were released by The Daily Beast after excerpts had surfaced previously. In them, the writer repeatedly apologizes to Trump, calls him her “Guardian and Protector in this Life” and says, “You are all that matters to me.”
PEOPLE said it had not independently confirmed that Harp wrote the letters, while the White House did not answer the outlet’s questions about whether they were genuine. A spokesperson instead defended Harp as one of Trump’s most loyal and hardworking aides.
Harp Traveled With Trump to His South Carolina Rally
Photographs published by TMZ showed Harp heading out with the president on Friday in a blue-and-white ankle-length dress and nude heels. Associated Press photographs also documented Harp and Leavitt arriving with Trump on Marine One at Joint Base Andrews before Harp boarded Air Force One for South Carolina.
Trump traveled to Myrtle Beach to campaign for Sen. Darline Graham ahead of South Carolina’s Aug. 25 Republican Senate runoff. The Associated Press reported that Trump urged supporters at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to approach the runoff as though he personally were on the ballot.
Harp’s presence on presidential travel was not unusual in itself. She frequently accompanies Trump, and on Aug. 16 she was photographed stepping off Marine One with him at the Ellipse after his return to Washington.
The Letters Were Tied to Trump’s 2023 Golf Trip
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The Daily Beast published images of two folded printouts that appear to bear Harp’s signature. Michael Wolff, who included excerpts in his book All or Nothing about Trump’s 2024 campaign, said sources within Trump’s campaign supplied him with photographs of the documents after staff members found them among material being delivered to Trump.
The letters were written during or shortly after Harp accompanied Trump on his May 2023 trip to his golf properties in Scotland and Ireland. Earlier excerpts had already been reported, including by The New York Times, but the full documents were not published until Aug. 20.
One letter centers on a series of apologies. The writer describes panicking after becoming stranded near an airport without her passport and contacting Trump rather than the Secret Service. She also apologizes over an episode on the golf course after apparently finding herself without a place in the caravan of golf carts.
The second document discusses Harp’s workload and her “Human Printer” nickname, a reference to her practice of supplying Trump with printed news articles and other material. It also describes missing the period when Trump would call during her days as a television host and worrying about disappointing him. Wolff said he knew who supplied the documents to him and who had seen them inside the campaign.
The White House Defended Harp Without Confirming the Documents
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told PEOPLE that Harp is “one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides” on Trump’s team and criticized the attention being given to her. The administration did not, however, answer PEOPLE’s question about whether the letters were genuine.
Harp, 35, previously worked as a host for One America News Network before joining Trump’s political operation in 2022. She now holds senior staff titles including special assistant and executive assistant to the president and works in close proximity to the Oval Office.
Her duties have been reported to include preparing printed material for Trump, assisting with correspondence and helping manage material that reaches him. Her visibility has also increased because she routinely accompanies the president during travel and has been photographed beside him at official events.
Separate Reporting Raised Questions About Harp’s Security Clearance
The Guardian reported on an MS NOW investigation citing two unnamed sources who said Harp went roughly a year in the White House without completing the routine security-clearance process normally undertaken by West Wing staff.
According to that account, Harp did not file the necessary paperwork despite receiving extensions, and she ultimately completed the forms after the White House counsel’s office raised the issue and Trump became involved. The reporting said she was subsequently granted clearance.
The White House has disputed any suggestion that Harp currently lacks authorization. “Natalie Harp has a security clearance like everyone else, and she is a loyal and hardworking member of President Trump’s team,” Leavitt said in response to the report.