Trump pays Natalie Harp $45,000 as a "holiday gift," raising legal and ethical questions, while highlighting a rift among staffers about Harp's access to the president

Natalie Harp: Trump's closest aide (NY Times)

The Trump administration is trying to sell Americans a glossy picture of the peculiar relationship between the president and his "Human Printer." The editorial staff at The New Republic (TNR) does not seem to be buying it. Is that because TNR is produced by a bunch of libs with, in all likelihood, nary a Trump fan on the premises? Maybe. But I think the magazine could be onto something.

Let's take a look as Ellie Quinn Houghtaling writes under the headline "Trump's $45,000 cash gift to Natalie Harp is a massive red flag. A subhead notes that Trump gave three aides, including Harp (his ever-present executive assistant and online mouthpiece), cash gifts worth approximately one-third of their White House salaries:

Donald Trump gave Natalie Harp—and two other women in his administration—a hefty sum of cash last year.

The president gifted Harp $45,000 as a “cash gift for the holidays,” according to a copy of Harp’s most recent financial disclosure obtained by The Washington Post. That amount is equal to nearly a third of her $150,000 annual salary, according to the White House’s salary disclosure report to Congress. 

Trump gave the same amount to his communications adviser Margo Martin, 31, and his deputy director of Oval Office operations, Chamberlain Harris, 26. Harris also worked at the White House during Trump’s first term, and was tapped by the president last year to oversee the development of the White House ballroom project.

The director of Oval Office operations (and an alleged co-conspirator in Trump’s classified documents lawsuit) Walt Nauta also received a lump sum of $20,000, according to his own financial disclosure. Nauta is paid $175,000 a year. 

Here is where the story gets mushy, and perhaps a bit gnarly, for the Trump administration. Houghtaling writes:

A White House official told the Associated Press that Trump “has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector.” The official did not elaborate on whether other White House employees had received similar monetary presents, but added that the gifts were not related to “individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards.” This paragraph raises a boatload or questions, such as:

* Are we to believe that Trump is a man who revels in Christmas festivities, who is filled with good cheer and even is known to let out a hearty "Ho, ho, ho!" when the mood strikes?

*When has anyone seen signs that Trump is a man of good cheer, a veritable holiday maven? I can't recall ever seeing such signs. Can you?

* Are we to believe that Trump has a tendency to treat women with kindness, respect, gratitude and generosity?

* It's hard to imagine that any of the women who were the targets of Trump's "p---y grabbing ventures felt they were being treated with kindness;

* Are we to believe Stormy Daniels felt respected after Trump paid her hush money to stay quiet about his indiscretions with her, a porn star?

* That brings us to generosity and longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who still is waiting to receive the $88.3 million in damages from two separate lawsuits that Trump owes her; so far, she has collected $5.62 million of that total -- and probably has yet to feel the overwhelming warmth of Trump's generosity. As for respect, Carroll likely was not feeling it when Trump digitally penetrated her and committed what a judge stated was rape as the term is commonly understood (as opposed to how it is described in New York Penal Law.)

* Finally, how did an administration official know the gifts in question "were not related to individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards?" Is this unnamed official an expert in rules, procedures, statutes, constitutional amendments, and any other provisions that have failed to rein in a lawless administration? Is anyone in the White House familiar with even simple legal concepts, such as due process, which Trump's ICE thugs violate on a seemingly hourly basis.

As for the TNR editorial staff, they appear to have a problem with the official's claim that the gifts "are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards." And this is where TNR might be onto some serious journalistic poop. That is particularly the case because the administration official's description of Trump, and the president we have come to 'know and loathe, sound like two entirely different people.

We know Trump is a combination of a "con man" and a "performance artist," which makes him an exceedingly sketchy character. And that seems to give the good folks at TNR the suspicion that, now or in the future, something untoward could be under foot. Let's return to the Houghtaling narrative:

Former authorities on the matter disagree (with the official). Richard Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, told the Post that the payments seem to violate a federal statute that disallows the supplementation of administrative salaries from outside sources.

Harp has been a near-constant presence at the president’s side during his second term, incessantly posting to his social media accounts on his behalf to create the illusion that he is always online and always reacting. Another of Harp’s responsibilities involves handing him printouts—particularly of positive news coverage of himself or his administration—to satisfy his preference for hard copy. The unique role has granted Harp a tremendous amount of influence over what Trump sees while also embittering some of her White House colleagues, who have taken to calling her the “human printer.”

But it’s been Harp’s unusually familiar relationship with the president that has caught the public’s interest in recent months. In August, it was revealed that Harp had written the president adoring notes in 2023, telling him that “you are all that matters to me,” describing Trump as her “guardian and protector,” and signing off on the letter to her boss with: “All my heart.”

The situation got even weirder when it became clear that Harp was one of the few people who accompanied Trump through a secret plane transfer in Turkey, shuttling him from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck, during an Iranian surface-to-air missile threat. Other high-ranking Trump officials—including State Secretary Marco Rubio—were left behind on the decoy plane.

Trump and Harp’s dynamic spurred more backlash after Trump publicly defended her when Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff suggested the duo had an "overly friendly" (perhaps sexual) relationship that presented a bad look for the presidency. Around the same time, the White House cropped Harp out of photos from the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

Like the folks at TNR, I suspect this story could turn out to be much bigger than it now appears. We have seen reports that Harp has clashed with fellow Trump staffers who sought to limit her access to the president. For now, they have apparently failed, and the president seems to see her as an indispensable part of his team. How long will that last? Here is how a report at MS NOW describes the dynamic:

President Donald Trump’s closest aide, Natalie Harp, declined multiple times over more than a year to seek a routine security clearance normally obtained by West Wing staffers to work at the White House, according to two people familiar with the matter. 

Both people said Harp’s reasoning for declining to complete the process was unknown. After concerns mounted among the White House counsel’s office and security officials, the president himself intervened, and Harp in recent months filled out the forms to launch a formal federal background investigation and received the clearance, one of the people said.

The lack of a security clearance is one of several red flags raised about Harp internally by Trump’s top aides since he returned to the White House in January 2025. Harp operates unusually close to the president and filters much of the information Trump sees on a daily basis, and that proximity has spurred frustration inside the West Wing, according to those two people and two other people granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal and sensitive dynamics.

One national security official voiced concern that Harp’s proximity to the president — in the West Wing and his residence — gives her access to the most sensitive information around Trump, more than nearly all other senior White House officials.

Since joining the president’s orbit ahead of his 2024 presidential campaign, Harp has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the commander in chief. She is known to deliver to the president troves of printouts, including favorable coverage, positive poll numbers from questionable sources and messages from Trump confidants — and those who want to be — trying to get his attention. 

Harp “plays into the less productive and more troublesome parts of his nature, putting things in front of him that aren’t vetted,” one of the people said. 

There have been “subtle moves” to limit Harp’s round-the-clock access to Trump from top staff that have been unsuccessful, according to another of the four people. “She is just persistent and not realizing that’s what they were trying to do,” this person said.  

Trump's whoppers at 9/11 ceremony draw howls of protest from people who, perhaps having heard almost daily reports about his lies on important matters, seem to doubt firemen carried him from rubble near Twin Towers

Donald Trump speaks at 9/11 ceremony on Tuesday (AP)

It should not be a surprise to many Americans that we have a pathological liar for president. Numerous mental-health experts have said as much in published analyses and statements to the press. Some journalists have taken to charitably reporting that Trump engages in "performance art." They even have been taken to task for normalizing Trump's rampant and knowing use of false information, as in this blunt statement:

Prominent physicist and climate expert Dr. Joseph Romm understandably slammed the press over it during a 2019 conference of mental health experts on The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump at Washington’s National Press Club: “…but to this day the media treats him as a president who happens to lie rather than a con man who happens to be president.”

No matter what you call it, Trump's penchant for prevarication sank to depressing depths on Tuesday at a ceremony to commemorate the attacks of September 11, 2001, which killed almost 3,000 people. The event was designed to remember those who died and honor those who tried to save lives. But Trump saw it as a chance to make 9/11 about himself, which is typical for a man who has been deemed a malignant narcissist by Dr. John Gartner, a clinical psychologist and former faculty member at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 

How did the 9/11 ceremony unfold. The Daily Beast summed up the occasion with two words by calling Trump a "presidential fabulist." Under the headline "Trump tells jaw-dropping lie about being rescued on 9/11," Farrah Tomazin writes:

Speaking on stage near a display of structural steel that had fallen from the towers that day, Trump veered into a story about his own alleged presence at the scene of the attack a quarter-century ago.

“The United States Steel Building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down,” Trump began.

“We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen - big, strong guys, and I’m not the smallest guy in the world - they grabbed me under the arm, said, ‘Got to get out of here!’ And they literally lifted me up.

“This is not easy to do. I’m big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself’ – but they were amazing. But they thought it was coming down. It didn’t come down.”

As it turns out, this is not a new oratorical excursion for Trump. In fact, Tomazin points out, he has traveled this deceptive path numerous times before:

The comments appear to be an extension of a story Trump has told before, including during a head-scratching interview on Newsmax in 2021.

But it immediately sparked a backlash online, with some suggesting it sounded as though the president was claiming he had been pulled from the rubble as though he was one of the September 11 survivors.

“So many lies. It’s exhausting,” quipped artist Angu Walters.

“Our president is completely delusional,” said Huffpost senior White House correspondent S.V. Date.

“Don’t allow Trump to sully the 9/11 tragedy with his sick fantasies,” added Tara Setmayer, co-founder of the Seneca Project.

One of the most interesting takes comes from a former writer for Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine who has written a book about Trump's tendency to cheat at golf. Tomazin writes:

Golf writer and author Rick Reilly - who detailed Trump’s extensive golf cheating in his book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump - claimed he had first-hand knowledge that the president was lying.

“I know this is BS because I was with him in his Trump Tower apt once. I was looking through his telescope. He said, “I watched the twin towers fall through that ... it’s solid gold.” Those were his exact words and not a single word about going down there to help," Reilly wrote on X.

Trump's activities on and around 9/11 have been well documented, so a relatively normal person might ask, "Why would this guy tarnish a solemn ceremony about one of the most traumatic events in U.S. history by telling stories that can be proven false?" My guess is that seeing a ceremony as "solemn" and an event as "traumatic" is something regular people do as a way to guide their behavior so that they can conduct themselves appropriately. But Trump doesn't seem to worry about appropriate conduct. How many times has he said something that no normal person would utter -- and certainly no previous president would say. Trump's behavior is guided by one principle -- that every occasion revolves around one person, Donald Trump. Some would say he has a "tin ear," that he can't recognize how his words sound to other people. My guess is that he doesn't care how rude, crude, or cruel his words might sound to others. But the world is noticing. Leaders of America's historic allies recently gathered in Germany and stated, in so many words, that they must begin to take care of their own defense because the U.S. no longer can be trusted. We have seen signs that Canada and Europe are considering a defense alliance that would bypass the U.S., largely because of the disrespect Trump has shown Europe and the threats and badgering he has directed at Canada. This is the mess an unbalanced leader has created for us, and it seems to be getting worse by the day. 

So what is the truth about 9/11? It seems to be the rare American who does not already understand that Trump was telling brazen lies at Tuesday's ceremony, but Tomazin helps remind us of the facts:

Trump was in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan when hijacked planes struck on September 11, 2001.

The building is two and a half miles away from the World Trade Center or the U.S. Steel building he mentioned in his story. The former U.S. Steel Building is now One Liberty Plaza.

In several interviews that day, Trump also talked about the other building he owned in Manhattan—40 Wall Street–boasting that with the Twin Towers gone, his was now the tallest building in the city.

“I was looking out of a window from a building in midtown Manhattan directly at the World Trade Center, when I saw a second plane at tremendous speed go into the second tower,” he said in an interview after the attack.

In short, Trump's words at Tuesday's ceremony do not match his own words from 25 years ago. You or I, if we told such tall tales with a crowd gathered and cameras rolling, likely would fear being called out for our dishonesty.  Once again that raises troubling questions about "The Leader or the Free World": Does he even recognize that he is lying? Does he care?

To top it off, just when you think the story can't get any murkier, it does -- as Tomazin writes, quoting Trump from the day of the attacks:

“Soon after, I went down to Ground Zero with men who worked for me to try to help in any little way that we could.”

But there is no public evidence to show Trump went to the steel building, or that he was rushed out by firefighters.

He has repeatedly claimed for years that he was at Ground Zero with a large crew of his workers helping with the recovery in the days after 9/11, but people on site those days have said they never saw him or a Trump-organized crew.

Trump's trademark anger and bluster already were present before his comments of Tuesday, and with two days until the actual 9/11 anniversary, there is plenty of time for him to get even more steamed. So much for solemnity, Tomazin writes:

The president’s comments came as the nation commemorates the anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Vice President JD Vance will attend the anniversary ceremony in New York, while Trump will speak at the Pentagon.

The New York Times reported last month that Trump decided to skip the official 25th-anniversary commemoration in New York City, in part because he wanted to deliver a speech, and event organizers informed his team that political remarks are not allowed.

However, he furiously rejected this and accused New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who co-authored the report, of being a “fake reporter” and “an unattractive person both inside and out.” 

Is Trump likely to put on an unprecedented show of class as the 9/11 anniversary approaches on Friday? My advice? Don't count on it. He already is pushing back against critics who have the temerity to ask, "Why in the hell was our president lying his oversized ass off about 9/11?" We learn from The Hill that any such displays of doubt are apt to send Donnie racing off to his Truth Social keyboard. Under the headline "Trump slams New York Magazine for calling 9/11 remarks 'weird lie,'" Julia Manchester writes:

President Trump lashed out at New York Magazine for its coverage of his remarks on Tuesday, after he said two firefighters picked him up off the ground near the U.S. Steel Building in New York City in the aftermath of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. 

“The Failing New York Magazine wrote a story that I wasn’t down at the World Trade Center after the Tragedy of September 11th, because nobody saw me there,” Trump wrote late Tuesday in a lengthy post on Truth Social. “Well, I don’t think I would be the first thing on anyone’s mind but, I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers.”

The president attached a clip of him speaking to reporters by Ground Zero after the attacks nearly 25 years ago. 

“Everything I said was exactly accurate and, to prove the point, I am attaching clips of me there with numerous of my people, including my then Head of Security, Matthew Calamari, who has confirmed that very sad trip to Lower Manhattan, many times, to many different Journalists, but it’s a story that just won’t die,” he added in the post.

Trump’s comments come after the publication referred to his speech on Tuesday recalling his experience in the aftermath of the attacks as a “weird lie.” He made the comments during a Steel Across America event at the White House Ellipse, commemorating the attacks and honoring the victims.

During the remarks, the president noted he was “down there right after this happened” but later clarified he was not at Ground Zero “on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter.”

“Everything I said was exactly accurate,” he said. 

Fox Business anchor and Trump ally Maria Bartiromo is ousted at the network after being accused of leaking internal memo to the White House

(Newsweek, Facebook)

Fox News business anchor Maria Bartiromo left the network yesterday after being accused of leaking an internal memo to the Donald Trump White House, according to an article at Talking Biz News (TBN), based on original reporting from the Status website. 

TBN's Chris Roush reports under the headline "Bartiromo's departure due to detailing internal memo to White House": 

Oliver Darcy of Status writes that Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo left the network, announced Thursday, after detailing an internal Fox memo to the White House.

Darcy writes, “Status has learned that Bartiromo’s termination stems from an incident, which has not previously been reported, that occurred in July. After Trump delivered his unhinged primetime speech in which he pushed more conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, this time making a number of allegations against China, I am told that Fox News issued guidance to senior employees instructing them to steer clear of giving credence to Trump’s 'delusional claims.' I’m told that the guidance was issued in writing.

“Indeed, the day after Trump’s primetime address, Fox News conspicuously avoided covering the debunked claims the president had pushed. The lack of coverage raised eyebrows among media observers at the time. It also appears to have caught the attention of the White House."

Bartiromo apparently made the mistake of being honest with the Trump administration about internal communications from her employer. TBN's Roush writes: 

“It’s unclear whether Trump or someone at the White House inquired with Bartiromo about the lack of coverage. But ultimately Bartiromo spilled the secret, Status has learned, divulging to the White House that Trump’s speech had received scant coverage on the channel because network bosses had ordered it so. I’m even told the text message in which Fox News brass offered their guidance was shared by Bartiromo with the White House. In doing so, Bartiromo not only effectively betrayed her employer, but also disclosed confidential company information, violating the terms of her employment agreement.

“It’s unclear whether Trump ever acted on the information, though one might imagine that upon learning of what happened, he would call Murdoch or network chief Suzanne Scott and rage. In any event, shortly after Fox News learned of Bartiromo’s actions, the Fox Business host vanished from the network’s air. Then, on Thursday, Fox News formally announced her ouster.”

With Trump's narcissism on grim display, a beloved sculpture is set to be uprooted at the Kennedy Center -- and Congress, with authority over the center, apparently will do nothing

Workers prepare "Blue" sculpture for removal at Kennedy Center (Reuters)

A beloved piece of sculpture is being removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, apparently at the behest of the Trump administration -- although neither President Trump nor the Kennedy Center issued a public warning or explanation in advance of the removal.

Our research indicates Trump has no authority over the administration of, or renovations to, the Kennedy center -- although he and supporters have been pushing for weeks to have his name added to the center. A jointly published report at The Hill and Yahoo! News looks at what led to a sculpture, one that has been on the Kennedy Center grounds since 2019, being set to suddenly disappear. Under the headline "Kennedy Center is removing landmark sculpture from grounds," Sarah Davis writes:

The Kennedy Center is set to take down a towering sculpture from the center's grounds today. 

The artwork's removal comes amid a wave of changes at the renowned Washington performing arts center during President Trump's second term. 

The 24-foot aluminum sculpture, titled "Blue," was gifted to the center in 2019. The art, which was created by famed American post-minimalist sculptor Joel Shapiro, depicts a human stick figure "poised in mid-kick," according to the Kennedy Center's description.

Does Trump hold authority over what comes and goes at the Kennedy Center? The answer we have found is a resounding no. Here is one of the best explanations we've seen:

Congress holds ultimate lawful authority over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts because the facility was established and designated as a national memorial by federal statute.

An article at CNN provides more details about the law surrounding the center and its artwork. " The Kennedy Center operates under an organic federal law (the John F. Kennedy Center Act). Federal courts have affirmed that because Congress created the institution and defined its core identity as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, fundamental changes—such as altering its official designation or name—require an act of Congress rather than unilateral board decisions."

Tensions around the center probably have not been eased by board statements that threaten to demolish the center. From a report at NPR:

In a legal filing, the board of the Kennedy Center said that the arts complex and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy may be torn down if its plans for a two-year renovation and to add President Trump's name back on the complex do not move forward.

The board called the Kennedy Center "embarrassing to the nation's capital" and a "sick and poorly run facility." Lawyers for the Justice Department also argued that the board and President Trump, who was named as the complex's chairman in February 2025, should be allowed to move ahead with a two-year renovation that would shut down most of the complex's performance venues and cost at least $250 million.

All indications are that today will be a busy one at the Kennedy Center, as Sarah Davis reports:

The National Park Service implemented a temporary road closure starting early Wednesday morning to facilitate the removal, according to a public notice. 

The sculpture is located along the Video Wall at the REACH, a $250-million addition to the center that opened in 2019. The project is an acronym of renew, experience, activate, create, and honor — words meant to encapsulate former President Kennedy's "vision for a new frontier for the arts," the center's website explains.

The center directed the sculpture's removal, and its relocation will be determined by a foundation dedicated to the artist, a spokesperson for the performing arts venue told The Hill. 

"We are deeply grateful to Joel Shapiro for the years 'Blue' has spent animating our campus and connecting visitors to his vision," the spokesperson said. "We are honored to have been stewards of his vibrant work and a part of his enduring legacy."

They also noted that gifted or loaned artworks are frequently deinstalled at art institutions across the world. 

This, however, involves Donald Trump and his chaotic nature, meaning it rarely is business as usual when the Orange King is involved. In this case, as has been know to happen often, Trump's narcissistic personality takes over and tends to make everyone else involved miserable. Davis writes:

The removal of "Blue" comes amid a backdrop of tension over the Trump administration's efforts to renovate the Kennedy Center. 

The president's push to have his name inscribed on the performing arts center's sign and shut down the venue for restoration projects has resulted in an ongoing legal battle. Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty (D), an ex officio Kennedy Center board member, has sued to halt the changes.

In federal court on Thursday, the Justice Department defended the administration's efforts to add Trump's name to the building and claimed the iconic arts center was in "structural and financial disarray." 

Beatty's lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky, accused the center's current board members of engaging in "outright defiance" of the court and argued that the institution was now in "crisis" because of this renaming effort.