President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump ride an escalator as they arrive to attend the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said that one aide to President Donald Trump is a 'neon sign' perfectly representing what is so different about his second term.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday morning, the Regime Change co-author said that the loyalty test for staff for the second Trump administration is how the White House ended up with an obsessive staffer like Natalie Harp.
Harp has caused some media problems for the White House over the past several weeks, after Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) mocked the president, saying all he wanted to do was "build his ballroom and travel with Natalie." White House allies exploded in defense of Harp, drawing more attention to her and her relationship with the president.
Haberman explained that anyone in close proximity to the president is going to be part of the conversation, because the perception is that they have a huge influence over Trump simply by virtue of proximity and trust. Haberman added that someone like Harp wouldn't have been part of the first Trump administration.
"I think that there is now an interest in her because she is so close to the president — because, you know, the argument has been that she is not a public figure; why is she getting all this attention? When you are in government, who is around a president is always something that is going to be of note and of interest," explained Haberman.
Over the weekend, previous social media posts from Harp were revealed, showing just how much of a fan she was of the president.
Those tweets, Haberman said, were part of "the loyalty issue." She explained that Trump staff were asked questions like, "Do you believe that January 6th was a legitimate and peaceful protest? Do you believe that Joe Biden won the election? The correct answer when it was asked to prospective job candidates during Trump's transition was not yes; it was no. And so you are right that this is what everybody is expected to say."
"But again, she is a neon sign of why this term is so radically different than term one," Haberman said. "For all of the belief that there were there were plenty of sycophants in term one, there was no one like this."was no one like this."
CNN host Audie Cornish questioned whether the recently posted videos of Trump are an indication that the White House is attempting to distance itself from Harp. One social media post showing a clip of Trump from events over the weekend cropped Harp out of the video. Previous reports have said that the White House has been trying to box out Harp.