'Someday, your children will...': White House attacks CNN reporter after question about Trump aide Natalie Harp
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Someday, your children will...': White House attacks CNN reporter after question about Trump aide Natalie Harp")
US President Donald Trump and aide Natalie Harp (R) exit Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House on August 16, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
A question about Trump's aide Natalie Harp sparked a heated Oval Office confrontation with CNN's Kristen Holmes. Trump attacked the reporter on camera, and the White House later escalated the clash with a sharply worded social media post.
After US President Donald Trump on Monday (Aug 17) took aim at another female journalist, the White House also sharply criticised CNN reporter Kristen Holmes for asking the POTUS about his relationship with aide Natalie Harp. Holmes had asked the US President to comment on a widely shared remark by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in a speech on Sunday.
The Democrat had told a crowd that the POTUS "doesn't want to do the job" and instead "wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar".
Trump's fresh rant against female journalist
The confrontation took place during an Oval Office event on Monday that was meant to honour a teenage lifeguard who rescued a child from powerful waves. Trump, however, opened the floor to questions on a range of other issues.
Holmes asked the president about comments made by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who had criticised Trump over his relationship with Harp and accused him of being more interested in "build[ing] his ballroom and travel[ling] with Natalie" than carrying out his duties.
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Trump also lashed out at Holmes when she attempted to ask him another question about North Korea.
"You're a loud, boisterous person, you're fake news, be quiet," Trump told the reporter before calling her "very disrespectful".
The White House's Rapid Response account then targeted Holmes on X, writing: "Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question." It then separately accused Holmes of using an event honouring a young hero to make what it called a "cheap shot" at one of Trump's staffers. "These scumbags are the lowest of the low," the account said.
CNN defends reporter
CNN strongly defended Holmes and condemned the White House's response.
"We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms," the network said, describing the attacks as "beneath the office".
Who is Natalie Harp?
Harp, 35, is a former television news personality who serves as one of Trump's aides and is frequently seen alongside the president. She has earned the nickname "human printer" because she is known for providing Trump with printed information during his workday.
She also became the subject of renewed public attention after reports that she was among the small group of aides with Trump during the covert aircraft switch in Turkey in July, when the president was moved from the plane carrying the press corps to another military aircraft amid an alleged security threat.
Recent comments by Ossoff brought Harp back into the political spotlight. Trump responded by attacking the senator, calling him a "Pee-wee Herman lookalike", while defending his controversial plans for a new White House ballroom.
The latest confrontation adds to a growing pattern of tense exchanges between the Trump administration and female journalists, with the White House and news organisations increasingly clashing over the tone and substance of questions directed at the president.
