Trump's Assistant Worked for Over a Year Without Security Clearance. She Filters Information for Him and Writes Leaders on His Behalf

Natalie Harp refused to undergo a security clearance check for more than a year, which every employee of the White House West Wing must complete. During those months, she filtered most of the information that reached the American president daily, and according to The New York Times, sent text messages to heads of state and government on his behalf. Within three days, 49 media outlets in nineteen European countries reported on her. Slovak and Czech newsrooms picked up the story, but in an earlier phase — the missing clearance and communication with leaders came only later.

A Year Without Clearance for the Most Sensitive Data

Spanish El Español, citing American television MS NOW and its two informed sources, states that Harp repeatedly refused to request a routine security clearance. The reasons for her refusal are unknown. According to the same sources, Trump himself had to intervene — after the White House legal counsel and security officials expressed concern about how close unvetted individuals were getting to the president. El Español ↗

This refers to the SF-86 form, a comprehensive questionnaire about previous residences, financial history, and foreign contacts that triggers a federal background investigation. According to the cited sources, Harp completed it in recent months and has already undergone the clearance process. Austrian Der Standard adds that she has a permanent place on board Marine One helicopter and exchanges text messages on behalf of the president with heads of state and government from around the world. Der Standard ↗

This part is precisely the heart of the problem. Italian Il Fatto Quotidiano cites findings by New York Times reporters Shawn McCreesha and Maggie Haberman — they do not state which leaders or what Harp wrote about, but describe the whole thing as an "information channel created by a single woman, operating completely outside the usual chain of command." Il Fatto Quotidiano ↗

"Human Printer": What Harp Actually Does

She got the nickname because she carries a portable printer for the president. Trump prefers paper, so Harp prints articles, social media posts, and news for him. According to sources cited by El Español, these include sensitive briefings, favorable news coverage, poll results from questionable sources, and links from Trump confidants trying to get his attention. One source stated that he often "presents things to him that have not been verified." El Español ↗

Harp is also among a handful of people with access to the president's Truth Social account. German ZDF, citing a documentary film about the 2024 campaign, states that Harp records posts dictated by Trump, including capital letters typical of his style. The station also notes that this actually understates her role — in reality, she is the one who controls the flow of information to the president. ZDF ↗

Swiss NZZ provides two cases from a Wall Street Journal report that show what such access means in practice. According to the report, the dissemination of a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys is attributed to Harp, and she was also involved in an AI image of Trump as a Jesus-like figure healing people. Neither commented on either instance. NZZ ↗

One Sentence from a Senator and an Explosion at the White House

Harp came into broader public awareness on August 18. Democratic senator from Georgia Jon Ossoff stated at a campaign rally that Trump doesn't want to do his job and would rather "build his dance hall and travel with Natalie in that seemingly unprotected flying palace he received as a gift from the emir of Qatar." FAZ ↗

He was referring to two things at once. To a Boeing aircraft that Trump received as a gift, and to the fact that Harp was among a handful of people the president took with him when, on July 8 after a NATO summit in Ankara, he secretly switched to a smaller military aircraft. According to El País, the reason was that the Secret Service assessed a possible Iranian threat. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained on board Air Force One, which served as a decoy. El País ↗

The reaction was considerably sharper than the question itself. When CNN reporter Kristen Holmes asked Trump about Ossoff's words, the official White House account accused her on X of a "low blow" and wrote that her children would someday encounter that "revolting and inhumane question" and would be ashamed. Communications director Steven Cheung resorted to vulgar insults against the senator. BBC ↗

Why Europe is Breaking This Down More Than We Are

In our monitoring of European RSS sources from August 18 to 21, 49 media outlets in nineteen countries covered the topic — besides BBC, Le Monde, Spiegel, FAZ, ZDF, and NZZ, also El País, El Mundo, La Repubblica, Der Standard, RTV Slovenija, Index.hr, Expressen, Aftonbladet, de Volkskrant, and Montenegrin Vijesti. The framing, however, differs. NZZ and Slovenian RTV emphasize control of access to the president, Swedish Expressen focused on the warning that the matter is "deadly serious," while Belgian and Dutch outlets took more of a personal angle.

Slovak and Czech media noted the topic, but in a different phase. SITA on August 18 described the row in the Oval Office SITA ↗ and iDNES a day later brought a profile with the nicknames "human printer" and "president's pacifier." iDNES ↗ The most essential part, however, came only on August 20 and 21 — the missing clearance, messages to world leaders on the president's behalf, and the fact that, according to CNN, Harp states she answers directly to the president, not to those who are nominally her superiors. Il Fatto Quotidiano ↗ Irish The Irish Times summarized why the same closeness both fascinates and frustrates some of those around Trump. The Irish Times ↗

For European governments, this is not gossip. If a message from Washington reached a prime minister or president through a channel outside the usual diplomatic line, it is a legitimate question who wrote it and who is responsible for it.

Limits of This Perspective

Much of what we know about Harp rests on anonymous sources and on the book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan about the first year of Trump's second term. The BBC states this openly — we know Trump's views on Harp mostly secondhand. Harp herself does not speak publicly, and the White House called her a "trusted and valued" team member.

Second is tone. A significant portion of European coverage focused on speculation about the nature of her relationship with the president, her age, appearance, and what Melania Trump thinks about it. No one substantiated those speculations, and they have nothing to do with the security clearance issue. Trump's camp used them to push the entire criticism aside as sexism — conveniently making the institutional question disappear.

And third, Ossoff is not a neutral observer. He is a Democrat in the middle of a campaign who chose a double meaning. That his remark triggered a chain of findings about the clearance and communication with leaders is a side effect, not his credit.

What hotinfo is Watching

Whether the White House officially confirms or denies that Harp communicated on the president's behalf with heads of state, and which ones.

Whether any European government raises the question of which channel Washington messages came through to them.

When exactly Harp received the clearance and whether the White House will document it with a specific date — so far we only have sources' claims that it happened "in recent months."

Whether any congressional committee with oversight of the White House formally opens the matter.

Whether Slovak and Czech newsrooms will add the institutional layer, or close the topic as Washington gossip.