Trump went on to describe Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who co-wrote the piece with Jonathan Swan, as a “third rate writer” and “terrible,” alleging that the paper does not fact check its stories (which isn’t true).
Trump’s attack on Haberman is hard to square with the fact that for years she has been someone he frequently speaks to and even posed for in a “thumbs up” picture in the White House. In fact, Haberman has often been criticized for focusing much of her reporting on Trump-centric gossip.
In the piece that attracted Trump’s ire, the Times reported that Harp is known in Trump circles as the “human printer” for her penchant for trailing her employer with a portable printer so she can print out positive articles for him to read.
She also serves as Trump’s de facto stenographer, taking dictation from him for text messages and social media posts (it is unknown if she is the one who hit “post” on his complaint about the Times story).
Trump reportedly refers to Harp as “sweetie” and the Times reported that he treats her “like a daughter.” Trump infamously sexualized his biological daughter, according to former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security Miles Taylor, who wrote in his memoir that “aides said he talked about Ivanka Trump’s breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her.”
Reporting on Harp shows she’s someone with a particularly cringeworthy admiration for Trump.
The Times reports that Harp sent Trump a letter in 2023 where she said, “You are all that matters to me,” and called him her “Guardian and Protector in this Life.” Harp said she wanted to bring Trump “joy.”
She has shown a willingness to stretch the truth in service of Trump. She appeared at the 2020 Republican National Convention and in a speech, Harp claimed Trump’s support of “right to try” policies led to the use of experimental treatments that saved her life. But the treatment Harp received for her bone cancer was available before Trump’s policy went into effect.
In her previous life, Harp also lied in service of Trump. She worked as an anchor at the far right One America News Network, and in that capacity, she pushed multiple lies alleging that Trump had won the 2020 election and had the election stolen from him by President Joe Biden.
Harp later left the network to work for Trump, continuing the pipeline of right-wing media television personalities (mostly from Fox News) that then become a part of the Trump operation.
Just like his Cabinet picks, Trump has shown with Harp that what he values most is media praise. But now that people know more about the weirdness between him and the “human printer,” the Republican leader clearly doesn’t like a spotlight he cannot control.
Campaign Action
