Is Natalie Harp Trump’s Monica Lewinsky?

The legacy media and their Democrat friends fervently hope the answer is yes. They are having a field day with a rather obscure (until recently) aide to the president and her relationship, professionally and personally, to President Trump. Rumors abound that there may be more to their relationship than meets the eye. Senator Jon Ossoff, D-GA, has briefly grabbed some undeserved headlines with his dripping-with-innuendo remarks about the Trump-Harp relationship, specifically regarding Harp’s privilege of getting on the “decoy” Air Force One with Trump when others, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were left on the original model’s flight. However, like so many of their recent missions, this one is doomed to failure for the Dems if they’re planning to use it for impeachment purposes. Now, let’s see what this is really about.

If his critics are to be believed, Trump’s over-protective, close relationship to his executive assistant Natalie Harp is the result of her fawning adoration of the president. In this regard, she unwittingly has taken on a role that, on the surface, can be compared to that of Monica Lewinsky to President Bill Clinton. And those wishing to draw the parallel still further can claim that both presidents leaned on their much-younger admirers during times of great stress in their presidencies. Clinton, who was dealing with a Republican Congress and a government shutdown, and Trump, whose dwindling popular approval correlates to the messy “war of choice” in Iran that has dragged on well beyond its original timetable. Both presidents have inflated egos that need to be stroked constantly, Trump probably more so than Clinton. So, it’s certainly plausible that the president would become close with an attractive, blond admirer who might remind him of his daughter Ivanka, and who is ready to serve his every need (at least professionally, as the personal part is sheer speculation at this point).

As an executive assistant to the president, Harp’s most visible role is being in charge of postings to Trump’s Truth Social account. Of course, some of Trump’s most provocative remarks about current issues reside in his social media world, and presumably these have been reviewed (some maybe even authored) by Harp. Given the importance of social media these days, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that Harp is a de facto chief of staff, since her gatekeeper role regarding social media is so critical.

However, all that being said, the Democrats’ fondest hope – that they will catch Trump in an inappropriate physical and/or romantic relationship with Harp and have another arrow in their impeachment quiver – is a pipe dream. For all his past playboy antics and extramarital affairs, Trump does have a line that, for practical reasons if no others, he will not cross – otherwise, he would have been caught engaging in illicit activities with Jeffrey Epstein. Unlike Clinton, who wanted and needed a romantic as well as a sexual relationship with Lewinsky to cope with his problems, Trump needs Harp as a strong, vocal supporter in his times of trouble. If Trump’s weakness is showing in this relationship, it may be because he values loyalty above almost everything else, and Harp is intensely loyal.

The loyalty thing cannot be overstated in its impact. Big egos often hide big insecurities. Richard Nixon had Bebe Rebozo, a friendship that was hard to explain except that Rebozo was willing to listen, nonjudgmentally and sympathetically, to Nixon railing against his political enemies. The problem is, friends like Rebozo and aides like Harp can bring out the worst tendencies of their sponsors. Does Harp enable Trump to follow his worst instincts in threatening a cutoff of military exercises with South Korea or threatening Oman with military action, because both of these “friends” have in some way betrayed him? Is he looking for Harp-like loyalty in others when it simply is not possible? Is Harp, however inadvertently, encouraging all of this because in her world, Trump can never be wrong?

I’m not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV. But there is a real possibility that Harp, who lost her father to suicide a few years ago, is looking to Trump as a heroic father-figure that she seems to need in her life. Unfortunately, Trump’s qualities as a father and grandfather don’t translate to his willingness to make clear-eyed presidential decisions with all available information, both positive and negative.

Whether age is finally starting to catch up to Trump or he’s just being more irascible than usual due to the ongoing problems with Iran, it’s clear that he will continue to give a hostile media an ongoing feast of damaging sound bites. Thus, he desperately needs someone who can get him to turn the temperature down before any further damage is done to our international relations, let alone to his presidency. Whatever else Natalie Harp may or may not be guilty of, she’s apparently not the right person for this purpose. She could, however, be someone who plays a part in his downfall, should it come to that. We need to pray, for the nation’s sake, that it does not.