Politics
President Trump Unleashes on Reporter Who Questions His Involvement With Younger Aide Natalie Harp
When President Donald Trump doesn’t feel like answering a question, he makes it known.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, August 17, CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes asked the 80-year-old president about Sen. Jon Ossoff‘s comments over the weekend that questioned his relationship with 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp.
“Jon Ossoff said that you’d rather travel with your aide Natalie Harp and build the ballroom than do your job as president. What is your response?” Holmes asked.
While the Apprentice alum answered in the moment by calling Ossoff “Pee-wee Herman,” the official White House rapid response X account wrote, “@KristenhCNN is a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.”
In a follow-up X post, it added, “Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”
During that same press briefing, Holmes also asked a question about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Trump lashed out in response.
“Quiet, quiet, quiet!” he could be seen saying in video footage posted to X. “You’re very disrespectful in front of this young man. Okay? Don’t you find her disrespectful? He understands. Quiet!”
After Trump learned that Holmes is a reporter with CNN, he called the respected media organization “fake news.”
“You’re a loud, boisterous person,” he told Holmes. “Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You’re a fake reporter, and you report fake news.”
CNN has since issued a statement on X standing behind Holmes. “Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House,” it began.
“This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people,” the statement continued. “Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press.”
“We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” the statement concluded.
Trump’s oddly close relationship with Harp has raised eyebrows after The New York Times reported in 2024 that she wrote devotional letters to the president.
