World

Natalie Harp: ‘Mystery blonde’ on Trump China trip raises eyebrows as Melania stays back

President Donald Trump was accompanied by Natalie Harp, his executive assistant, during his visit to China where he met counterpart Xi Jinping. Along with Harp, others who flew out included son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and many CEOs, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook.

Natalie Harp, executive assistant to US President Donald Trump. (Bloomberg)

Lara posted a photo before the China trip. “Team CHYYYYYNA,” she wrote.

While most of the people were recognizable, many missed who the blonde woman was. There was a lot of chatter about this online while the president was on the China trip.

One person wrote “has anyone else noticed that when trump went to china,melania stayed her a** home and trump took a young blonde natalie harp.” Another outlet shared a photo of Trump and Harp on the plane. “Natalie Harp, 34, Trump’s executive assistant, is traveling with the President in China. Melania stayed home,” they said.

Also Read | Trump’s staff was forced to destroy phones before leaving China: Here’s why

“The young, single blonde woman is rumored to be enamored with Trump giving rise to rumors of an affair…White House aides describe her as an ‘instant enabler of his impulses’,” they claimed. HT.com could not independently verify these claims.

The Irish Star described her as the ‘mystery blonde’ joining Trump on his trip.

Notably, Melania Trump, who had accompanied POTUS during his 2017 China visit, stayed back this time. She reportedly wanted to focus on domestic foster care and child welfare initiatives.

Meanwhile, Harp not only set off internet chatter, but a recent Wall Street Journal article also made explosive claims about Trump’s assistant.

Who is Natalie Harp?

As per WSJ, Harp is also behind Trump’s long rants on Truth Social. Sources told the publication that Harp prints out stacks of drafted social media posts for President Trump which he reviews and approves. Then, she logs onto his Truth Social account and posts batches of this approved content at a time.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the publication that ‘internal deliberations of how the process works’ are not discussed with him.

“Truth Social has never been hotter, and it’s because President Trump offers his unfiltered and direct thoughts to the American people, without the biased media taking him out of context. We don’t discuss internal deliberations of how the process works, but no other social-media tool has been more effective than Truth,” Cheung said.

The 35-year-old has been with Trump as an executive assistant since January 2025. She used to be a television presenter and had joined Trump’s communication team in 2022. At this time, Harp began to often accompany Trump on his daily golf outings. As per Alex Isenstadt’s book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, Harp is known as the ‘human printer’ because she carries a wireless printer to give Trump news stories on the go. Harp survived bone cancer and the California native had endorsed Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention.