In mid-May 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump went on a late-night posting spree on his Truth Social account, sharing 55 posts within three hours. News coverage on the flurry of posts drew attention to his executive assistant, Natalie Harp, who reportedly plays a key role in Trump's social media activity.
Many people online speculated that the two were having an affair, citing reports about their close working relationship.
According to the anti-Trump account Occupy Democrats, Harp was Trump's "rumored paramour" and the "secret fuel" behind his late night Truth Social posts. The post cited reporting from The Wall Street Journal to claim that Harp brought Trump stacks of printed posts with racist content, AI-generated content and more and posted them on social media late at night with his approval. The post also claimed Harp wrote gushing letters to Trump and lived in the women's locker room at his golf club one summer in order to work with him:
(X user @OccupyDemocrats)
We have reached out to the White House for comment and will update this story accordingly.
Below, we break down the coverage of Trump's relationship with his assistant. All of this coverage relies on anonymous sources, meaning we could not independently verify the details.
The Wall Street Journal
On May 12, 2026, The Wall Street Journal analyzed Trump's Truth Social posts from the previous night and the approval process for his posts. Relying on anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Harp "brings the president stacks of printed-out draft social-media posts for his approval."
"The proposed posts often recycle content from other accounts that Harp or advisers think would appeal to Trump, according to people familiar with the matter," according to the WSJ report.
Harp reportedly logs into Trump's account, often outside of work hours, and posts batches of his approved messages herself. Sometimes Trump personally posts those messages, according to the WSJ report. Harp posted a video that contained a racist depiction of former U.S. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at Trump's direction, as well as an AI-generated picture showing a Jesus-like Trump, the outlet reported.
According to the WSJ, Harp works directly with Trump and typically bypasses the chief of staff's office, communications aides and national security officials before sharing media posts. The White House told the WSJ that it doesn't "discuss internal deliberations of how the process works."
The report did not reference any rumors of an affair.
The New York Times
A November 2024 report from The New York Times described Harp as a "devoted" aide to Trump. The Times reviewed
In another letter, she reportedly wrote, "I want to bring you joy to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk 'work.'" She also wrote "I don't ever want to let you down" and thanked Trump for being her "guardian and protector in this Life," the Times reported.
According to the Times, people who wanted to sway Trump's opinion often sent damaging clips to Harp, who would relay them to the president. Trump reportedly appreciated Harp's loyalty:
Mr. Trump has dismissed concerns about Ms. Harp, whom he calls "sweetie" and treats like a daughter, according to people close to him. They say he appreciates Ms. Harp in part because she was among the few aides working for him when he was still something of a political outcast, after he was voted out of office and after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Steven Cheung, Mr. Trump's spokesman, said Ms. Harp was "trusted and valued" and credited her "work ethic and dedication" for helping Mr. Trump win the election.
Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that Trump once said, while angry after his 2023 arraignment in Fulton County, Georgia, that Harp was the only member of his staff who cared about him.
Fox News
A Fox News documentary about Trump's 2024 presidential campaign shows Harp positioned next to Trump as he dictated his Truth Social posts to her during former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' speech at the Democratic National Convention. She then typed each post up and posted it to his account.
Trump can be seen leaning over to Harp and asking her, "How many people are watching?" in reference to Harris's speech.
Wolff's book on Trump
"All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America," the 2025 book on the lead-up to Trump's second presidency by journalist Michael Wolff, relies on anonymous sources to detail the relationship between Harp and Trump, describing her as "lovestruck." An excerpt claims Harp lived in the women's locker rooms of Trump's golf club one summer to live and work near him:
The summer move to Bedminster became an opportunity to deal with what was now deemed officially "the Natalie situation." In Bedminster, she needed housing—so none was allotted. Out of sight, for Trump, was out of mind. And even Natalie would not presume to speak to Trump about her accommodation. (Who got what room at what Trump property was hard-fought politics, largely unbeknownst to Trump.) And yet, in Bedminster, suddenly there she was. She had reached out to the grounds staff at the country club and gotten herself a maid's room. And when that proved too far from the main house to respond quickly enough to Trump's calls, she relocated herself to the much closer women's locker room, where, with undiminished proximity to Trump, she would spend the summer.
The book also reported that the media clippings she gave to Trump directly affected his moods and behavior that day, including outbursts.
Wolff described the letters Harp wrote to Trump as a matter of concern among his staffers because they portrayed a relationship of "imagined alarming intimacy or one of genuinely strange submissiveness." One letter to Trump allegedly stated:
After going through all this self-analysis, my conclusion? I need to reunite my past self with my current into a better version who will make you proud. And please, when I fail, will you tell me? You have the absolute right to cuss me out, if need be, when I deserve it, because no one knows or cares about me more. Thank you for always being there for me—I'll never forget when you made that promise to me after losing my Dad, and I know how happy he is right now that I did get to go to Scotland and Ireland, as he always wanted for me. To modify a classic, "I could not have parted with you, to anyone less worthy"—and, I will add, it is I who is unworthy. Always, Natalie.
Harp reportedly slipped these letters into the stack of reports she gave to Trump.
According to the book, rumors about Harp being Trump's "bit on the side" or possible mistress persisted during his campaign. Even the Secret Service, which had possession of her letters, allegedly told Trump she was a potential danger to herself and to him. Trump allegedly called his staffers' concerns about Harp nonsense and said, "She just loves her president."
The above reports are based on rumors and anonymous sources, making it impossible for us to independently confirm the details within them. Furthermore, Harp's reported devotion to Trump is not evidence of an actual affair or proof that the president reciprocates her purported feelings.
For further reading, Snopes has previously reported on Trump's various Truth Social posts and AI-generated content he has shared.