A personal front on the way to 2028: Senior Democratic senator attacks Trump and his close aide
Senator Jon Ossoff from Georgia has opened a front against Donald Trump and his close personal aide, Natalie Harp. According to him, the US President "does not want to do the job; he only wants to build his ballroom and travel."
Senator Jon Ossoff, a prominent Democrat from Georgia and someone marked in his party as a potential candidate for president in 2028, opened a sharp and particularly personal front this week against US President Donald Trump. At the center of Ossoff's attack was not only policy, but Natalie Harp, his close personal aide. During a campaign rally in Atlanta held on Sunday, Ossoff sharply criticized Donald Trump's conduct in light of the security tensions with Iran.
"While the sailors on the aircraft carrier Lincoln are fighting his war, and while he is uselessly emptying our ammunition stockpiles and oil reserves, the president is sleeping in meetings, playing golf, and trading stocks," Ossoff declared to the cheering crowd.
He continued with a personal jab when he said that Donald Trump "does not want to do the job. He only wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their flying and defenseless palace, which was gifted to them by the Emir of Qatar."
The reference to the 35-year-old Harp is not coincidental. In recent months, Harp has become one of the closest and most influential figures in Donald Trump's circle and the "gatekeeper" of the information reaching him. She regularly accompanies him on his weekend trips to the Mar-a-Lago estate and the golf club in New Jersey, and was even among the few staff members allowed to join him on the backup plane during the security incident in Turkey last month, following an assassination threat from Iran, while senior ministers were left behind.
Harp, who earned the nickname in the US as the "human printer" because she carries a laptop and a portable printer to show the president printed articles and posts, effectively manages his Truth Social account and dictates many of his messages. The story of their acquaintance began in 2019, when Harp, who recovered from bone cancer, appeared on the Fox News network and attributed the saving of her life to Donald Trump's "Right to Try" policy. In 2022, she joined his team as a personal aide, and according to a report by The New York Times, she tends to send him personal letters full of admiration that caused discomfort among his circle. Her estranged brother also spoke out in the past against her role and called her relationship with the president "very unhealthy."
The response from the White House to Ossoff's attack was not long in coming. In an interview with CNN, Donald Trump himself mocked the senator by comparing him to the comic character "Pee-wee Herman." In Donald Trump's communications team, they chose even sharper words: Communications Director Steven Cheung called Ossoff on social media "the biggest loser and cuckold in politics," and the White House press secretary added that it is a "feminine and embarrassing theater kid who is trying to dress up as Barack Obama."
Ossoff's attack, who is running for a second term in the upcoming midterm elections, indicates that the Democrats identify the unusual closeness between Donald Trump and his aide as a political vulnerability. Now it remains to be seen whether the battle will remain within the boundaries of social media or whether it will stir up Donald Trump's campaign coffers with the goal of ousting the stinging senator.
