The estranged brother of top Trump aide Natalie Harp says their family fell apart after their father’s 2020 suicide. He says a dispute over how to talk about the death drove the rupture, according to a new report from The Washington Post.
Preston Harp, 38, told the Post’s Terrence McCoy that their father, Bob Harp, died by suicide at their Irvine, California, home on July 17, 2020. He provided an autopsy report to the Post. Preston said Natalie called him that morning about “an emergency with their dad.”
Preston said his mother, Jill, and Natalie preferred to keep the cause of death private and tell people Bob had died in his sleep.
“I just said, ‘I’m going to say what the police said,’” Preston told the Post.
According to Preston, that disagreement was the moment the family “finally broke apart.” It had already been strained by political differences. The siblings have not spoken since, he said.
Natalie Harp's father, Bob Harp, a 61-year-old business professor at the Christian Biola University, reportedly had political differences with Natalie. A family friend further told the Post that the pandemic isolation weighed on Bob, an extrovert. The family had locked down strictly to protect Natalie, who had been treated for bone cancer.
Days before Bob’s death, Preston stopped by the house to repay a loan. “Listen, I’m not doing okay,” he recalled his father saying.
Preston said some relatives have accused him of lying, and he has lost touch with most of the extended family.
Natalie and Jill Harp didn’t respond to the Post’s requests for comment. The White House didn’t contest Preston’s account but didn’t make Natalie available or provide a statement.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.