President Donald Trump has discussed promoting his 35-year-old blonde assistant to be his next press secretary, a new report alleges.
An insider tells CNN that Natalie Harp, a former right-wing TV host who now tags along with the president everywhere as his trusted executive assistant, has now “entered the mix” to replace the departing Karoline Leavitt as press secretary.
CNN wrote on Thursday that Trump “has joked to advisers that maybe he would tap his executive assistant for the role.”
If promoted, Harp’s annual salary would likely increase from $150,000 to $195,200, the top federal salary tier for full-time White House Office employees and what Leavitt, who officially departs the White House at the end of the month, is being paid.
Harp has not maintained a social media presence or done press in MAGA 2.0, but she has on-camera experience as a host for the far-right news network One America News, where she hosted her own show for over a year before leaving to work for Trump as his so-called “human printer” assistant in 2022.
While Harp’s name is in the mix, CNN reports that its own token MAGA pundit, Scott Jennings, is actually the frontrunner for the position.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles reportedly met with Jennings at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Washington—where a ribeye runs for $116—at the request of the White House. Multiple White House staffers told CNN that they believe Jennings has her backing.
“He’s competent and good on TV,” a senior White House official told CNN.
Jennings was previously a longtime adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell and also served in the George W. Bush administration. These days, he is a MAGA provocateur on CNN, clashing with fellow contributors and hosts as he at times desperately defends Trump and other Republicans, like McConnell, through his health crisis and disappearance. He has also repeatedly defended Harp as her close relationship to Trump has been increasingly scrutinized this summer.
Jennings, 48, is also the favorite to get the nod as press secretary on the prediction market site Kalshi, which pegs his odds at 35 percent.
Jennings is trailed by White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, 29, at 21 percent; former RNC spokesperson Elizabeth Pipko, 31, at 7 percent; and then Harp, at six percent.
Trump’s former legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, was once a top contender for the position, but her odds on Kalshi tanked after she posted to X on Wednesday night, “I’m not in the running for any job.”
