President Donald Trump flattered an even younger White House aide than Natalie Harp, potentially putting her in an uncomfortable position.
Trump, 80, spoke Thursday at a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, where he invited 31-year-old communications adviser Margo Martin, an Oklahoma native, on stage. He then fixated on her looks.
Martin “is known for a number of things,” the president said. “I can’t mention one, because if I do, my political career will be over.”
He then mentioned it anyway: “You can never say that a woman is beautiful. If you say a woman is beautiful, that’s the end of your political career. But, I’ll say it anyway: She is a beautiful woman, inside and out.”
Trump, pointing out Martin’s parents, continued: “I see why she’s good-looking, actually. You know, I believe in the racehorse theory. Fast horses, right? Great mom and dad. Thank you very much. Great job, Margo.”
On The Daily Beast Podcast, Joanna Coles and Hugh Dougherty dissected that moment and how it could play out behind the scenes in the White House.
“I actually feel for Natalie Harp watching that,” Coles said.
Trump was clearly “showing off” Martin, Dougherty added.
“And of course, Trump travels with the same group of people all the time. So Natalie Harp was there as well,” he explained. “He brought [Martin] up, he hugged her, he talked about how beautiful she is. We know that that’s the language of Trump.”
“So in his view, this is a local girl done good. But if you’re Natalie Harp... there were these pictures earlier in the week of him apparently shouting at Natalie Harp. And then, a younger woman, a woman who—we have to say—has regularly been mistaken for Melania, was brought up on stage.”
Martin and Harp have been in the White House since the first day of Trump’s second term. Martin, his communications adviser, and Harp, his executive assistant, each make $150,000 per year, and each received a $45,000 cash gift from Trump, apparently for the “holidays,” The Washington Post reported last month.
Harp, in letters published by the Daily Beast, has called Trump her “Guardian and Protector in this Life.”
Tuesday’s rally, Coles theorized, could be Trump’s attempt to instill a competition of sorts between the two women.
“It seems that he’s trying to pit them against each other, which is something we know he does with his Cabinet,” she said. “You know, it’s JD Vance versus Marco Rubio versus Pete Hegseth. He’s doing it here with Natalie Harp and Margo Martin.”
When reached for comment, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung replied: “Joanna shouldn’t be so jealous, it’s not a good look for her.”
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