Source: The Washington Post / Getty
A long-time biographer of Trump has shared details that the absence of First Lady Melania Trump from the White House could be due to her secret power struggle with Natalie Harp, a young aide glued to President Donald Trump’s side.
The 35-year-old’s prominence sharply lies in contrast to the First Lady Melania Trump’s presence. Michael Wolff, a journalist and former friend of the president as well as his biographer, alleges that the contrast lies in a power struggle between Harp and Trump’s 56-year-old wife.
Wolff wrote in his Substack newsletter that Harp’s obsession to be near Trump to become a “central presence” in his life led to Melania Trump pointedly staying away, even during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“Melania, whose appearances with her husband were carefully negotiated and choreographed, would not show up if Harp was around,” Wolff wrote. Harp’s relentless drive to stay close to Trump included her sleeping in the women’s locker room at his Bedminster Golf Club in 2023 and leaving personal, heartfelt letters in his personal spaces.
Those actions eventually convinced Melania Trump to not even move into the White House, opting to stay in New York. “Other than at ceremonial occasions, or in a strictly official capacity, she has given up the role of wife. Practically speaking, there is no room for her,” Wolff writes.
Melania has been noticeably absent from Trump’s side since the beginning of his second term – The Daily Beast noted that she was seen with him only 47 times all of 2025, and just 36 times in the last seven months.
Harp has steadily gained attention from many media outlets because of her increasing proximity to Trump, underscored by Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) mentioning her in a speech blasting the president over the past weekend.
Sources note that the belief among Trump aides is that the relationship between Harp and the president isn’t sexual, but more of “a Christian devotional relationship.” On the most recent episode of the Inside Trump’s Head podcast, Wolff defended his reporting, asserting that administration sources wanted to shed light on Harp. “So that’s one of the motivations for people to speak to reporters. They want to tell you there’s a story here.”
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