MASS EXODUS: Trump’s A-Team Is Gone — Except Natalie Harp
The Tara Palmeri Show
This episode of The Tara Palmeri Show explores the shifting dynamics within Donald Trump's inner circle, focusing on the departure of key figures from his 'A-team' and the enduring presence
Key takeaways
- Trump operates like a sultan with a court-like inner circle where proximity equals influence.
- Natalie Harp's loyalty is so intense that she functions as a personal conveyor belt for Trump, delivering printed materials on demand.
Main topics
- Trump's inner circle dynamics
- Natalie Harp's role as 'human printer'
Notable quotes
"She got him whatever he needed. The president's poll numbers are just not great, right? They're pretty bad."
"Trump's name for her was my conveyor belt."
Conclusion
While many figures have left Trump's inner circle, a core group remains loyal, with Natalie Harp standing out as an unparalleled
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:04) The Speaker 3 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 1 (0:15) The new Speaker 3 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 4 (0:28) What I didn't put in the piece of the bulwark at the time was Trump's name for her, which was my conveyor belt. She got him whatever he needed. The president's poll numbers are just not great, right? They're pretty bad. The big movement for him is the intensity of support among Republicans. And the thrill is kind of gone. It's time to go. Things aren't getting better with the president. He's heading to his lame duck. Speaker 2 (0:53) This is Marco Pudo. For everyone who doesn't know him, he is an ace killer reporter for Axios who covers the Trump White House. He knows the ins and outs. And as you know, the dynamics inside seem to be shifting. We're interested in today and who actually has power, who's in, who's out. Brookings Institute said that, you know, from his A game, A team, 50 percent of people have left. Is this normal or is there a reason why? Speaker 2 (1:21) Is there turnover happening in Trump world again, like in the first administration when they said they had a 90 percent turnover in the first year, which was actually insane. I didn't realize it was that crazy, but it did seem like they were constantly cycling through people. We're going to talk about the midterms and we're going to talk about where Trump should actually go and what Senate seats have now become vulnerable. And is a trip from Trump actually good for the Republican base, good for Republican voters to get them out? Speaker 2 (1:50) And more moderate swing voters? Or is it going to activate, you Speaker 4 (1:56) know, the Speaker 2 (1:56) left to come out? So let's talk about who's got the power right now, Mark. I walked into the West Wing today and actually wanted to know who has influence over Donald Trump. You know, not the title, but who are the five people I should actually watch? Speaker 4 (2:15) I mean, with Caroline Leavitt leaving, that's the only one. Well, I guess the departure. Speaker 4 (2:22) Man, I'm blanking because I was supposed to be off today, to be very clear. And that's why we love you. Why am I blanking on Dave's last name? Warrington. Thank God. With Warrington leaving as counsel, the thing is that Trump really only has, like, you know, he's got Suzy Wiles, Caroline Lovett, or about to be had, Speaker 2 (2:47) Stephen Chung. Speaker 4 (2:51) Stephen Miller, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio. Speaker 2 (2:56) Yeah. Speaker 4 (2:58) Who am I missing? I mean, that's basically how Speaker 2 (3:01) many. Yeah, Speaker 4 (3:02) that's that's six. So that I mean, that's your those are your people. Now, Caroline's leaving. So that takes away. He's still got the five. So where the fuck the Brookings institutions come up with a 50 percent. I have absolutely no idea. That's not to mean that 50 percent of people like in various positions haven't left in a certain band. I have no idea how they're doing their math. But if their math is based on who really has influence, they're wrong. Speaker 2 (3:24) They actually kind of they slice it up into like. Team A, Team B, Team C by like senior administration. Speaker 4 (3:32) Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:32) Okay, whatever. You don't have to believe Brookings. But yeah, so the thing Speaker 4 (3:35) with Trump is that he's, my colleague, Barack Ravid, said it best. He's our Middle East expert, perhaps one of the foremost Middle East experts on the planet. And he said that Trump is basically like a sultan. And just like a sultan has a majlis, a court. that basically sits around and decides everything. That's what happens. And those are those people I had listed off there. Speaker 2 (3:58) Okay. And are there any people who... Oh, and then there's Natalie Harp. Speaker 4 (4:02) You know, I didn't really want to talk about her too much because I think this very dangerous territory for the mainstream media, of which I am still a member, to engage in. Nevertheless, I mean, it is understandable that people are talking about her a lot because she is uniquely devoted to President Trump. She's just always at his side. And as I wrote, what, two years ago at the Bulwark, I think we were the first person to at least give it a headline calling Natalie Harp the human printer because she would follow Trump around on the golf course with an actual portable battery operated printer where she could print up stuff for him to see that she thought was interesting or important or whatever. She's always around and in this White House and in Trump's operation. proximity to power is power itself. It's, again, very much like a sultan in his majlis. Speaker 2 (4:53) But what's her, like, what is she, what's she angling for? What's her, does she have any power? That's a great question. I Speaker 4 (4:59) think what she's really, what she's really angling for is just the affection and, I mean, sort of admiration, the respect, the acceptance of Trump. I mean, her adoration for President Trump is... Speaker 4 (5:15) I mean, she's totally dedicated to him. Speaker 2 (5:17) Got it. I don't think Natalie Harp is that unusual, to be honest. Speaker 4 (5:22) Oh, she is. Speaker 2 (5:24) I think she's unusual. But I think in this in like if you look at Trump's history, he's always had these you could call them secretaries, but women who doted on him in a way that enfeebled him to like the point where you're like he's like a child in a way. You know what I mean? Speaker 4 (5:41) Yeah, I guess someone could argue it'd be sort of like kind of a codependent relationship. What I didn't put in the piece at the time, you can come on in. We're just live with Tara Palmieri, my daughter. Speaker 2 (5:51) Liv! Liv Speaker 4 (5:53) Caputo is about to walk in. Speaker 2 (5:54) A great journalist herself, covering Tallahassee. Yeah, you can just walk by. Go ahead. At least wave. Speaker 4 (6:00) See, there she is. Oh, she was there. There, see, there she is. Speaker 2 (6:05) So, the... Speaker 4 (6:09) What I didn't put in the piece in the bulwark at the time where I worked, where we called her the human printer, which was one of her nicknames, was Trump's name for her. Which was my conveyor belt. Speaker 1 (6:20) And he Speaker 4 (6:21) said that she she got him whatever he needed. Right. So whatever she needed, it was like a conveyor belt at a factory. It was just there for him. Right. Yeah. Speaker 2 (6:32) And Speaker 4 (6:32) so among the things that he wants and needs and likes are positive tweets, articles that praise him, as well as articles about things that that he would oppose. or posts on social media about things he would post, and she would get those to him as well. Again, because he's essentially a boomer, well, I guess he's in a different, technically, generation of boomer. I think they're older than the boomers. He would want it printed up, Speaker 3 (6:57) so she would print all of his stuff up for him. Speaker 4 (6:59) But aside from if you saw, like, the Daily Beast printed the letter, or two of the three letters, I think, that are out there, that... Speaker 3 (7:08) Harp had written to him at a certain point, which just sort of really expressed her Speaker 4 (7:12) adoration and devotion for President Trump. But my colleague, you know, our erstwhile colleague when we worked at Politico, Alex Eisenstein, in his book, Revenge, the story of Trump getting back to power, he was the first one to report about those letters way back when. He just didn't actually print the copies because Speaker 3 (7:31) they were given to him in Speaker 4 (7:32) a sort of an advisory capacity. Speaker 3 (7:35) I think Speaker 4 (7:35) Michael Wolff was the first one who, you know, had the letters and finally just printed them. Those make just very clear the level of sort of, again, I just keep coming back to the word devotion that Natalie has for him, for President Trump. Speaker 2 (7:49) Why do you think they're leaking, though? Who's got it out for Natalie? And why? I think a lot of people Speaker 4 (7:55) I think I mean, you've seen this for a long time. You saw this in Trump one. You've seen it in various stages. There are always various people in Trump world who are just willing to knife each other because they want to get closer to the president or closer to Trump or they think someone else is too too close and they hate it. The reality is here. I think anyone who knows anything. by this point would realize that there's no way you're going to dislodge Natalie Harp from, you know, getting close to the president. So I don't know the particulars of how Michael Wolff