Two letters written by White House aide Natalie Harp to US President Donald Trump in 2023 have offered a striking glimpse into the depth of her personal and professional attachment to him, with Harp describing Trump as her “Guardian and Protector” and telling him, “You are all that matters to me.”The letters, published in full by The Daily Beast on Thursday, were written during or shortly after Trump’s May 2023 trip to Scotland and Ireland. They contain repeated expressions of loyalty, apologies for what Harp feared were mistakes and reflections on her changing relationship with Trump as she moved from television host to one of the president’s closest aides.The publication of the letters comes as Harp’s unusually close access to Trump has come under renewed scrutiny in Washington. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff recently mentioned her in a speech criticising Trump, including a reference to the president travelling with her on a secret flight out of Turkey. Harp was among the limited group of aides who accompanied Trump when he left Air Force One and boarded another aircraft during what the material describes as an apparent Iranian threat to the presidential plane.What did Natalie Harp write to Trump?In one letter, Harp apologised to Trump after an incident during the Scotland trip in which she said she was left alone in a van outside Customs without her passport.“I’m sorry. I thought I was the only one left behind last night, and had no idea Margo’s car was also pulled over, and sent back to the Airport,” she wrote.Harp said she had panicked because she was alone without her passport and acknowledged that she should have contacted the Secret Service rather than Trump.The Daily Beast published letters that Trump’s 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp allegedly wrote to him“You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life”https://t.co/fTpcaYYsZa pic.twitter.com/40doqcyQU2— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 21, 2026 “Since I was alone in the van outside Customs without my passport, I panicked, and should have just called Secret Service instead of you,” she wrote.Story continues below this adShe also apologised for walking on the golf course rather than using a cart. Harp said she had initially been told there were no carts and that people were walking. She later said a person working at the course had asked her to continue walking and encourage other women to do the same to reduce the number of carts being used.Natalie Harp running after Trump’s golf cart in 2023 pic.twitter.com/o5B79ufShI— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) August 21, 2026 “If there is anything else I have done to cause you trouble, please forgive me,” she wrote.But the letter quickly moved beyond the practical details of the trip.“I want things to always be right between us,” Harp wrote, adding that she had been distracted, was barely eating or sleeping and had been dwelling on the death of her father.Story continues below this adShe said her fear was not about what other people thought of her but about how Trump viewed her.“That is the fear you see, because I never want to bring you anything but joy,” she wrote.She then added: “I’m sorry I lost my focus. You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life.”The letter was signed, “With all my heart, Natalie.”Her second letter was even more personalHer second letter was more reflective and also contained highly personal comments about Trump and her role around him. Harp wrote about what she had learned about herself during the trip and said Trump had effectively forced her to disconnect from the constant demands of her job.Story continues below this adShe described being able to spend time with Trump on the golf course without machines and said she enjoyed long walks during the mornings and evenings.“I didn’t have to be ‘Human Printer.’ I could take time to enjoy good conversation, and still get all my work done at the end of the day,” she wrote.“Human Printer” was a nickname reportedly used for Harp because of her habit of printing material for Trump. She herself referred to the nickname in the letter.Harp said the break made her realise how close she had been to burnout.Story continues below this ad“I had no idea how rapidly I was approaching burnout,” she wrote.She also said she had begun envying women whose only job appeared to be talking to Trump and looking good. “I want that job!!” she wrote.Harp then recalled her time as a television host and said she missed the period when Trump would call her and they would talk about matters unrelated to work.“I miss the days when you used to call, during my Talkshow days, and we’d talk about everything and nothing,” she wrote.Story continues below this ad“I want to get back to that synergy. We shouldn’t have to talk about work all the time!!”‘You have the absolute right to cuss me out’Harp also described herself as occupying an unusual position between Trump’s formal staff and people he socialised with on planes and at dinner.She said she wanted to become a better version of herself who would make Trump proud.Then came one of the most striking passages in the letter, “And please, when I fail, will you tell me? You have the absolute right to cuss me out, if need be, when I deserve it, because no one knows or cares about me more.”Story continues below this adShe thanked Trump for supporting her after the death of her father and referred to a promise he had made to her at the time.“To modify a classic, ‘I could not have parted with you, to anyone less worthy’—And, I will add, it is I who is unworthy,” she wrote.She signed the letter, “Always, Natalie.”Why are the letters emerging now?The letters were obtained by author Michael Wolff while he was working on his book about Trump’s 2024 campaign. The Daily Beast said the documents were handed to Wolff by sources within Trump’s campaign who were concerned about Harp’s growing closeness to the president.Wolff said the letters had reportedly been discovered among the piles of printouts Harp delivered to Trump. According to his account, photographs of the letters circulated among campaign staff.Story continues below this adHe described the situation as having generated a revolt among some aides and argued that Harp’s growing influence was based on her proximity to Trump rather than experience.The Daily Beast published the letters in full, but CNN said it had not independently confirmed that Harp wrote or sent them to Trump in 2023.Why is Natalie Harp so close to Trump?Harp has emerged as one of the most visible people in Trump’s immediate orbit. According to reports, she spends much of the day with Trump, sits in meetings and communicates with him constantly. She reportedly speaks with him late at night about social media posts, acts as a channel for foreign leaders seeking access to him and contacts people Trump sees on television.Who is Natalie Harp? President Trump’s assistant has gained attention recently in part because Sen. Jon Ossoff alluded to her closeness to Trump in remarks he made attacking the president’s record and his commitment to the job.Sen. Ossoff’s focus on Harp resonated with many who… pic.twitter.com/Z7fTXImgzi— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 20, 2026 She is also described as someone Trump uses to send messages to people when he does not want to contact them directly.Officials cited in the material said her working relationship with Trump works because of her “total loyalty” to him.But that closeness has also reportedly caused friction with senior aides, with some efforts made to limit her access to the president.Harp’s position has been compared with that of Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former personal secretary during his first term. But the key difference, according to officials cited by CNN, is that Harp is not simply positioned outside the Oval Office; she is inside it, alongside Trump for much of his day.Harp’s extraordinary proximity to TrumpCNN reported that in October 2023, Harp once travelled in the trunk area of an SUV to accompany Trump to a court appearance in New York after there was not enough room for her inside the vehicle. She reportedly insisted that Trump had personally asked her to attend and did not want to be left behind.More recently, Harp was among the small group accompanying Trump during the secret flight out of Turkey that has now become part of the wider scrutiny around her role. Her presence was also highlighted by Ossoff in his recent criticism of Trump.Harp is reportedly a special assistant and executive assistant to the president and earns $150,000 a year. It also says she has become known as Trump’s “gatekeeper” and that questions have been raised about her access and influence.From television host to Trump’s inner circleHarp first attracted Trump’s attention after appearing on Fox News in 2019, where she credited Trump’s Right to Try legislation with helping her access treatment for bone cancer, The New York Times reported. Medical experts have since disputed the extent to which the law was responsible for her treatment.She later spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention and became involved in Trump’s campaign. She worked for the conservative One America News Network until 2022, when she joined Trump’s team as an assistant.Her letters repeatedly refer to that earlier phase of their relationship.She describes herself as an “in-betweener” — someone somewhere between formal staff and those Trump enjoyed talking with socially.That helps explain why the letters are significant beyond their emotional language: they offer a picture of how Harp sees her own place in Trump’s orbit.What about the reference to her ‘purple’ hands?The second letter ends with a postscript about Harp’s hands. “My hands looked worse in Scotland and Ireland because the Cold turns the old ‘scars’ purple. Still on the road to recovery!”The Daily Beast said photographs showed what appeared to be a scar and discolouration on her right hand. Harp also referred to “coming home to my roots”, although the publication said it could not establish whether she had Scottish or Irish ancestry.Harp’s family and her father’s deathThe letters also connect Harp’s relationship with Trump to the death of her father.Her father, Robert Harp, a real estate broker, died in 2020. Harp wrote that she would never forget a promise Trump made to her after her father’s death.She also said she believed her father would have been happy that she was able to travel to Scotland and Ireland because he had always wanted her to visit.Her brother Preston, from whom she is estranged, told CNN that he believes she has an “unhealthy obsession” with Trump. That is a family member’s characterisation, not an established fact, and should remain explicitly attributed if used.What White House saidThe White House defended Harp. Spokesman Davis Ingle said, “Natalie Harp is one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump’s team.”He also criticised the media’s coverage of Trump and Harp.What does this mean?The letters do not by themselves establish the nature of Harp and Trump’s relationship beyond what Harp herself describes. They do, however, provide unusually personal evidence of how she viewed her relationship with the president.