How Trump and a family death splintered the Harps and pushed Natalie closer to MAGA

How Trump and a family death splintered the Harps and pushed Natalie closer to MAGA Preston Harp and his sister Natalie, Trump’s devoted White House aide, are both grieving for their father while pursuing very different political paths - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in The estranged brother of Natalie Harp, President Donald Trump’s devoted White House aide, has told how the political divide between him and his sister was cemented following the death of their father, pushing her closer to MAGA and him to the left. Preston Harp, 38, and his sibling hold strong political beliefs at opposite ends of the spectrum. Preston, who fled the U.S. for Nicaragua in 2023, told The Washington Post that he is prepared to die for the Sandinistas, a Marxist revolutionary group in the Central American country, while his sister has found a new father figure in Trump. The siblings have not spoken since the death of their dad, Bob Harp, 61, who died by suicide in July 2020. Friction over revealing his cause of death is at the heart of why the family splintered, Preston told the Post. Natalie, 35, and her mother, Jill Harp, preferred to keep the cause of Bob Harp’s death private and told people he died in his sleep, Preston said. But he wanted to tell the truth. “I just said, ‘I’m going to say what the police said,’” Preston told the newspaper. The family broke apart after the “painful disagreement,” the Post reports, with some relatives reportedly having to choose sides and accusing Preston of lying. Neither Natalie nor her mother has publicly responded to Preston’s claims. The White House previously praised Natalie as “one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump’s team” when approached for comment. A month after her dad’s death, Natalie, a cancer survivor, delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention where she credited Trump for saving her life. She has since moved deeper into MAGA and is now constantly in Trump’s orbit. Seeing his sister at the RNC in 2020 pushed Preston further to the left, he said. Reports of Natalie’s proximity to the president first surfaced this year in a book written by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. Public scrutiny mounted when it emerged she was one of the few selected to join the president when he was covertly whisked out of Turkey on a military aircraft in the summer. Those reports, including her moniker “Human Printer” and how she leaves adoring notes for Trump, prompted Preston to speak out about his sister to the press. He called her relationship with the president “unhealthy,” and laughed on CNN about a report where Natalie was said to have jumped into the trunk of an SUV when there wasn’t space for her to ride in Trump’s motorcade in 2023. But Preston has also become “radicalized” since his father’s death, he told the Post. “To be a martyr is the most honorable way to die in my opinion,” he said of his willingness to die for the Sandinistas. “Glory to the martyrs!” Before he died, Preston was regularly in contact with his father but rarely with Natalie and his mother. He said that his father would often tell him of “difficulties at home” as Natalie and her mother’s support of Trump and MAGA grew. Preston claimed that his father, a professor of business at the Christian college Biola University in California, was “not a fan” of Trump. During the pandemic, Bob Harp felt increasingly isolated, Preston said. A family friend told the Post that Bob Harp was “an extrovert” and “the isolation of working on computer screens all day was difficult for him.” The last time Preston saw his father in July 2020, he recalled how he seemed “distressed.” “He didn’t seem OK,” Preston told the newspaper. “But I couldn’t do anything…“That was the last time I saw my dad.” Preston traveled to Nicaragua in the summer of 2022 after he felt “oppressed” by life in the U.S. He said he found comfort in immersing himself in Sandinista culture and “felt my heart open back up again after two years of sadness” about his dad, he wrote in an essay obtained by the outlet. He said he is dismayed by what he has seen of his sister and Trump from afar. The extent of Natalie’s devotion to Trump was laid bare in letters obtained by the author Michael Wolff, published earlier this year. Natalie opened up to the president about the death of her dad and thanked him for “always being there” for her. “I haven’t been myself, dwelling on the Past, and the pain of losing my Dad,” she wrote to Trump during a trip to Ireland and Scotland in 2023. “I started letting the remarks of people who haven’t bothered me before, get to me—not because I care what others think, but because I see myself being lowered in your eyes and good opinion. That is the fear you see, because I never want to bring you anything but joy.” The White House previously defended Harp, issuing statements of support and criticizing the media’s reporting of the aide’s relationship with the president. “The Fake News’s continued attacks on President Trump and his Administration prove exactly why trust in media is at historic lows,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “The media should get back to reporting real news and stop regurgitating Trump-Deranged liberal talking points.” If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you’re in the UK, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI). 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