Donald Trump aide Natalie Harp encouraged the president to tear down the East Wing of the White House, according to author Michael Wolff.
The East Wing, which historically housed the office of the first lady and her staff, has been demolished to make way for Trump’s colossal ballroom. Now Wolff has revealed that 35-year-old Harp, who is regularly seen with the 80-year-old, may have had a hand in its destruction.
Speaking on the Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head Podcast, Wolff said, “People within the White House say that Natalie was one of the people who argued for the ballroom and getting rid of the East Wing.”
“She has worked to put herself into the position that she is the woman closest to Donald Trump,” Wolff added.
The dramatic destruction of the White House has become one of Trump’s primary legacy projects, as part of the president’s so-called beautification of Washington, D.C.
Melania had privately raised concerns about the destruction of the East Wing, and had even told associates that it was not her project, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Elsewhere on Inside Trump’s Head, Wolff signaled that people had been talking about her presence at Trump’s side for some time.
“During the 2024 campaign, people began to talk to me because they were specifically worried about this woman, Natalie Harp, who had come into the campaign,” he said.
“No one knew exactly what she was doing there. No one knew why she was... there. But she was assuming more and more authority in the campaign, and this was both a worry and an annoyance to many people. And so that’s one of the motivations for people to speak to reporters.”
Since then, Harp’s presence at Trump’s side has only increased.
The former One America News Network host has been reported to be one of the few top aides that Trump took with him on board a food cart in Ankara, Turkey, when he swapped planes in an evasive maneuver in response to a credible threat from Iran.
The New York Times revealed on Tuesday that Harp had sent fawning letters to Trump, including one that said, “You are all that matters to me.”
After a trip to one of Trump’s golf courses in the U.K., she wrote, “I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland.
“I want things to always be right between us. I also know I’ve been distracted all week (forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep, and only catching a couple hours at a time).”
It concludes: “With all my heart, Natalie.”
Their close relationship caught the attention of Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who during a rally in Georgia said, “He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.”
On Tuesday, CNN reported, citing a White House adviser, that Trump “likes the attention and the fact that she is 100 percent committed and loyal.”
Her rise coincides with Melania’s disappearance. At the time of writing, she has not been seen for 30 days.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said, “Natalie Harp is one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President Trump’s team. Michael Wolff is a professional scumbag and serial liar with s--t for brains.”
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