One of the most powerful "gatekeepers" in Donald Trump's White House isn't a chief of staff or a Cabinet secretary — it's the aide known as "the human printer."
According to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, the ever-present Natalie Harp has become one of the most direct pipelines to the president, literally printing out articles, social media posts and other material for Trump's review. One person seeking Trump's attention said they texted material straight to Harp, who replied simply: "Printed."
For those angling to reach Trump, "that one-word response is incalculably valuable," meaning they have the president's ear with Harp's permission, with her own version of a "read receipt," Politico is reporting.
Harp's influence drew fresh scrutiny this weekend after Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff invoked her at an Atlanta rally, saying Trump would rather "build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace, gifted by the emir of Qatar" than do his job. The remark followed reporting that Harp was among a small group of aides who secretly flew out of Turkey with Trump last month amid an Iranian missile threat, while others stayed on a decoy plane.
Trump dismissed Ossoff on Monday as a "Pee-Wee Herman look-alike." White House spokesperson Davis Ingle went further, telling West Wing Playbook: "Jon Ossoff is a cringeworthy, feminine theater kid cosplaying as Barack Obama. Nobody gives a s--t what this lightweight loser says."
Harp's constant presence beside Trump has earned her the nickname "human binkie" from New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, with Politico noting that her role managing Trump's stacks of printouts — which he marks up in Sharpie before aides photograph and return them to their authors — gives her "outsized sway" over what physically reaches the president's desk.