A State Department staffer at odds with his superiors reportedly sought the help of Donald Trump’s senior personal counsel to keep his job.
Gavin Wax, 33, had been placed on administrative leave from his role as chief of staff in the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in July, only to return the next week after making a “Hail Mary” call to Boris Epshteyn, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. Epshteyn, 44, informed the president of Wax being sidelined, and the move was then overruled, five senior administration sources told the outlet.
Wax, according to a source close to him, has also been known to text Natalie Harp, the 80-year-old president’s loyal 35-year-old executive assistant. These communications are said to have resulted in “personal notes” from the president, which have helped him navigate several controversies.
In late July, Wax was accused of assaulting a colleague, prompting an investigation. The former president of the New York Republican Club also caused a firestorm on the right last October for leaking to Politico racist and homophobic messages in a Telegram chat for “Young Republican” leaders.
As for Wax’s July episode at the State Department, the Mail reports that there is “no indication that Harp had any role in saving Wax’s job.”
Wax’s initial dismissal apparently stemmed from hosting pro-Kremlin Serbian politicians for lunch at the State Department’s executive dining room, over the objections of career officials at the department, and claiming that Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau had signed off on it. The White House Office of Presidential Personnel and senior State Department officials, under the direction of Landau, approved of letting Wax go, according to the Mail.
When that move was reversed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was reportedly furious. He made clear that Wax had no place in his department, three sources told the Mail.
When reached for comment, State Department spokesperson Dylan Johnson told the Mail: “This is false and never happened.”
A source familiar with Epshteyn also denied the report, saying, “This is an entirely made up chain of events that never happened. It is a completely false, maliciously deployed hoax by pathetic leakers.”
Still, five sources said the reversal undermines the State Department staff.
“It signals to everyone else in the department that if you have the ear of someone close to the president, you are untouchable no matter what you do,’ one State Department source told the Mail.
Wax may have saved his job by calling Epshteyn, but it seems to be only temporary. After his paternity leave, he is set to start work at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, as will his former State Department boss, Under Secretary Sarah Rogers.
“Gavin Wax will be an incredible addition to the United States Agency for Global Media and will continue to successfully execute President Trump’s America First policies,” a White House official told the Mail.
Harp, one of the young female aides to whom Trump gave $45,000 as a cash gift for “holidays,” rarely strays from his side. A former host on right-wing channel One America News Network, Harp has been dubbed the president’s “human printer,” showing him stories, conducting internet searches for things he wants to hear, and helping him post on Truth Social. She was one of the few close aides Trump took with him on his covert flight out of Turkey in July.
Harp’s closeness to Trump was further revealed in August, when the Daily Beast published two adoring letters she wrote him in 2023, either during or after she accompanied Trump to Scotland and Ireland.
“You are all that matters to me,” one letter reads, referring to him as her “Guardian and Protector in this Life.” She added, “I don’t want to ever let you down.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the State Department for comment.
