Trump aide Natalie Harp played major role in making sure he was properly glorified in taxpayer-funded ads: report

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Donald Trump’s ever-present aide Natalie Harp helped him create taxpayer-funded ads that glorified the president, according to a report.

On August 7, Trump met with Republican advisers and strategists in the Oval Office to pressure him to spend money from his Political Action Committee to help candidates in the midterms.

However, Trump turned the attention of the meeting on himself and asked Harp to show videos and images he favors, the New York Times reported.

She then showed a series of videos created by the White House digital team that glorified Trump, the report noted. One of the videos even included UFC President Dana White praising Trump — a quote that would later appear in the ads.

While Trump made it clear he planned to travel and support the candidates, he himself wanted to be front and center in the ads — which was met with overwhelmingly negative reactions.

Since September, Trump has run ads at football games, on news networks and other media outlets “paid for by the U.S. government.” The ads glorified Trump and his policies. Some of them are even carbon copies of his campaign ads.

Taxpayers fund advertisements.

Outrage has grown over the ads and their political nature, even though the White House describes them as public service announcements.

The first ads began airing in early September in the Washington, D.C. market, to ensure Trump could see them, the Times note. After that, they began to be distributed across the country thanks to $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security.

This included the infamous “Love me” ad in which Trump declared that America would never be a communist country.

Trump defended the ads despite growing criticism.

“If anyone says it’s wrong, I’ll gladly pay,” he said last week. “But these are advertisements for the country,” he added. “You have to understand. I’m not promoting a candidate. I’m not promoting myself because I’m not running for office. I’m promoting the country.”

The White House has already declared The Independent: “These public service announcements are intended to remind Americans to love their country and understand what is worth fighting for, at home, at our borders and abroad.”

The Independent contacted the White House about Harp’s role in creating the ads.

Harp has come under intense scrutiny in recent months. She is Trump’s personal assistant and has been seen traveling with him. However, this has raised concerns given his closeness to the president.

She was nicknamed “the human printer” for printing messages and social media posts for the president.

Harp also acted as a gatekeeper for Trump, with some using her to deliver their messages to the president. That has raised concerns among Democrats and others who question his role and ability to filter messages that Trump sees.

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff put Harp in the spotlight by saying Trump wanted to spend more time with her than helping the country.

“He plays golf and trades stocks,” Ossoff said in August. “You see, he doesn’t want to do this job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their seemingly defenseless flying palace given to him by the Emir of Qatar.”