U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a press conference with cryptocurrency executives in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
New information about President Donald Trump's close aide Natalie Harp raised eyebrows among critics online Wednesday.
In a bombshell report, MS NOW reported that Harp worked at the White House for an entire year without security clearance.
Sources said "Harp’s reasoning for failing to complete the process was unknown," MS NOW White House correspondent Jake Traylor wrote on X. "After concerns mounted among the White House counsel’s office and security officials, the president himself intervened and Harp in recent months filled out the forms to launch a formal federal background investigation and received the clearance, one of the people said."
Political and media experts responded to the new details.
"She 'declined?' 'Declined?' You can’t just decline to get a security clearance. You either get one or you don’t have a job. So much dysfunction in this White House. When will the GOP have had enough? Why risk the country for this?" Joyce Vance, former federal prosecutor, wrote on X.
"Nat sec official said this was very concerning," MS NOW investigative reporter Carol Leonnig wrote on X.
"A year of classified access without vetting and nobody thought to mention it until now?" wrote X account ZeroBarkThirty(2), a combat veteran and frequent political commentator.
"You can’t convince me Natalie Harp isn’t a Russian/Israeli asset," Gen Z commentator Jack Cocchiarella wrote on X.