Natalie Harp’s Brother Says Trump Isn’t the First President She’s Written Adoring Letters To: ‘Her Dream Came True Finally’

Preston Harp called his estranged sister’s devotion to Trump an “unhealthy obsession” in a new interview about their upbringing and how she became the president’s most visible assistant

NEED TO KNOW

• The estranged brother of White House aide Natalie Harp appeared on CNN on Tuesday, Aug. 18, to share his thoughts on her high-profile role in President Donald Trump’s second term
• Natalie’s close dynamic with Trump has garnered more scrutiny this week, prompting the White House to strongly defend her and attack reporters for asking questions
• Preston Harp labeled his sister’s devotion to the current president “sad” and called it an “unhealthy obsession”

The estranged brother of White House aide Natalie Harp appeared on CNN to provide his perspective on his sister’s role in President Donald Trump’s second term — and the recent political fervor surrounding her and her complimentary notes to Trump.

Preston Harp told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday, Aug. 18, that his 35-year-old sister’s preoccupation with the White House dates back to her childhood during the George W. Bush administration.

“I’d say since she was like 16, she’s had an obsession with, gosh, how do I explain this?” Preston said on OutFront. “She’s written letters to other presidents, let me put it that way. And so her dream came true finally.”

“I didn’t see the letter, but George Bush obviously, during the Iraq War,” he clarified when asked who else she had written notes to.

The White House did not immediately respond on Wednesday, Aug. 19, to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the interview.

Preston also labeled Natalie’s devotion to the current president “sad” and an “unhealthy obsession” after Burnett relayed a CNN report claiming Natalie once opted to ride in the trunk of Trump’s motorcade en route to a court appearance in Manhattan in October 2023.

There weren’t enough seats in the cars headed to the courthouse, so Natalie reportedly settled for the trunk after a shouting match in the lobby of Trump Tower, according to CNN, whose reporters said they obtained a photo of the incident.

The president’s son Eric Trump, who helps lead the family’s businesses, responded to the CNN interview on Wednesday by calling Preston’s appearance “absolute trash.”

“Natalie is an incredible young woman — a cancer survivor, a genuinely good person, and arguably one of the hardest-working people in the White House,” Eric wrote on X. “She’s deeply committed to my father, to her job, and to this country. From the looks of it, she got all the family genetics.”

Erin’s full interview with the estranged brother of Trump aide Natalie Harp as CNN reports Harp is constantly around Trump all hours of the day: “It really blows my mind.” pic.twitter.com/4jWjuNCMys

— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) August 19, 2026

Natalie’s constant presence at Trump’s side during the 2024 campaign and in the Oval Office since his return to power has been noted in news coverage and books about the president and his administration in recent years, including reports that she left “adoring letters” in his “personal spaces.”

But her role garnered more scrutiny this week after Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat running for reelection this fall and a potential 2028 presidential contender, mentioned her during a campaign rally on Sunday, Aug. 16. 

“He doesn’t want to do the job,” Ossoff said of Trump on Sunday. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.”

The White House has responded aggressively, lobbing insults and pushing back strongly on both Ossoff and a CNN reporter who asked Trump directly about the Georgia senator’s comments. Senior White House officials have consistently and publicly defended Natalie as a valuable and hard-working member of the team.

.@KristenhCNN: Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling. https://t.co/EWgPy7mXQP

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026

“Natalie Harp is one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump’s team,” outgoing press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The New York Times this week.

Natalie is an executive assistant who reportedly handles much of the president’s personal communications, including text messages and his frequent posts to Truth Social. 

The Times reported on Tuesday that she was the aide who allegedly showed Trump — and then shared from his account — the racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

She first landed on Trump’s radar in 2019 after a laudatory appearance on Fox News, crediting the first-term president’s policies with getting her access to life-saving treatment for bone cancer.

“I think she’s one of the best guests you’ve ever had,” Trump said on Fox News shortly after, calling her “that young, beautiful woman.”

After a brief stint on his 2020 campaign and an anchoring gig on a right-wing news network, she joined Trump’s political operation in 2022 as he prepared to run for a second term. She became a daily presence at his side in the years that followed.

“It blows my mind,” Preston said on CNN of his sister’s journey to the height of political power.

Preston, who has previously expressed left-wing political views, told CNN that their mother raised them in California with “the idea that American exceptionalism was the correct way of looking at things” and that “people weren’t bad because they had slaves.”

“It’s like Trump wants to take all those books out of schools. He wants to rewrite history,” Preston said. “So I think that my sister, unfortunately, didn’t break out of that delusion that my mom raised us with.”

He went on to add that Trump is “everything that my mom taught us to respect.”

“So I think that’s where her infatuation for Trump comes from, honestly, because I don’t think it’s a physical attraction,” Preston continued. “Let’s get real, you know. Like personally, I don’t think so.”

He also speculated on why Trump was so fond of his sister, whom Times reporter Maggie Haberman described as the president’s “binky” and “comfort blanket” during an appearance on MS NOW on Sunday.

“I think that Trump’s best friends are people who are his fan club, you know? And so she’s his biggest fan. And so that’s probably why he likes her,” Preston said on Tuesday night. “And she’s good looking, she’s got a good personality.”

He ended the interview with a message to his sister.

“I love you. I hope that you change and that you wake up and you realize that everybody on this earth is part of a human family, and no country is better than any other country,” Preston said. “The history of the United States is unfortunately really sad, and it shouldn’t be rewritten. We got to all come together and try to make it better.”

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