The White House criticized a CNN journalist following her inquiry about President Donald Trump’s rapport with an aide, marking another instance of tension with female reporters. At a recent Oval Office event honoring a teenage lifeguard for rescuing a child from dangerous waves off Santa Cruz, Holmes posed a question regarding comments from a Democratic lawmaker about Trump’s executive assistant, Natalie Harp, who is 35 years old.
In response, the White House’s “Rapid Response” team issued a sharply worded statement on X (formerly Twitter), calling Holmes’s question “disgusting and inhumane” and vowing that someday her children will come across it. Later, Trump dismissed Holmes as “very disrespectful” when she followed up on North Korea. Trump had initially opened the event, meant to celebrate the lifeguard, to questions on unrelated topics, including North Korea.
He told Holmes to be quiet and called her “fake news.” CNN condemned these remarks, asserting that the attacks on Holmes were “beneath the office” and expressed their strong support for her.
Harp has been the focus of online commentary after it was revealed she was one of the few aides accompanying Trump during a clandestine Air Force One exchange this July. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who may run for president in 2028, accused Trump during a campaign speech of prioritizing building a lavish ballroom and traveling with Harp over fulfilling his presidential duties. Trump responded by mocking Ossoff as “Pee-wee Herman,” defending his $400 million White House ballroom project but declining to address Harp directly.
The White House also took issue with Holmes for asking about Harp during the event, with the Rapid Response team accusing her of “using a hero’s event as an opportunity for a cheap shot” at one of Trump’s staffers, calling such behavior “the lowest of the low.” Harp, previously a TV news personality, is often by Trump’s side and has been dubbed the “human printer” for providing him with printed information. In the book “Regime Change,” published this year, two New York Times reporters detailed how Harp expressed unwavering loyalty, including writing him “adoring letters” saying “You are all that matters to me.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also publicly denounced Ossoff, labeling him “the biggest loser in politics.”
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