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The controversy over the close relationship between Donald Trump and his communications assistant, Natalie Harp, has escalated, now due to claims that the president has been giving her thousands of dollars. Is it true? Below, we tell you what is known.
According to revelations made by the media outlet Politico, Trump gave Harp and two other White House advisors $45,000 each as a gift last year under the concept of a “holiday cash gift” for Christmas.
Apparently, the cash gift was outside the records of their respective salaries, which amount to as much as $150,000 for each of them.
As Politico cited from a White House spokesperson, the gift made by Trump to Natalie Harp and two other workers is a traditional practice during the Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays and has nothing to do with an alleged personal relationship as has been claimed.
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“The president has a long-standing habit of giving Christmas gifts to people around him, sometimes including employees and advisors,” Trump supposedly tends to distribute gifts of this style from his position as a businessman in the private sector and now as president of the United States.
“The gifts in question have nothing to do with these people's official duties in the government, and therefore, they are fully permissible, according to the relevant legal and ethical norms,” cites the American media outlet.
The new controversy surrounding the money keeps 35-year-old Natalie Harp and 80-year-old Trump under public scrutiny for an alleged relationship beyond the professional that could border on the intimate.
It should be noted that both have raised suspicions of a romance after being seen together on numerous occasions, especially in private meetings, both in the workplace and in personal and family settings. In fact, it has been commented that Melania Trump cannot stand seeing Harp near her husband nor does she like her presence near her.
As biographer Michael Wolff stated, the close relationship between Trump and Natalie Harp has generated tensions with the first lady of the United States, because she is constantly “above the White House staff and, in addition, his wife and his family”.
For her part, a source close to Trump's circle stated in an interview with Semafor that Melania does not like the media attention surrounding the relationship between Donald Trump and Natalie Harp: “The first lady does not like this kind of thing”.
A White House official told the Daily Mail that Harp's influence and power within Trump's work circle is on another level and that she is even above other high-profile officials like Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, and Karoline Leavitt, press secretary: “She has a direct line to the president, outside of the control of Susie Wiles and Karoline Leavitt,” the source noted.
Letters reviewed and detailed by the New York Times state that Harp has a certain devotion to Donald Trump beyond the professional, whom she has described as the “guardian and protector in this life,” as well as the only person who truly “cares” about her.
Regarding this, it is known that Natalie has deep gratitude to the president because, thanks to a law he promoted to access medications and treatments not approved by the FDA, she was able to be cured of cancer.
[Publicidad]