Eric Trump slammed a CNN interview with Preston Harp, the estranged brother of Natalie Harp, labeling it “absolute trash” Wednesday.
CNN’s Erin Burnett spoke Tuesday night with Harp about his sister, who has served as an executive assistant to President Trump since 2025. During their conversation, Burnett asked Harp for his opinion on reports that his sister leapt into the trunk of a motorcade in 2023 in order to accompany Trump to a court appearance in lower Manhattan, despite being told that there was not enough room for her. Harp laughed in response.
“That’s really funny. I didn’t even know about that,” Harp said. When questioned further by Burnett, he added, “It’s actually kind of sad. That’s obsession. That’s, like, an unhealthy obsession with someone, if you’re going to jump into the trunk of their car.”
A clip of the interview went viral Tuesday, prompting a response from Eric Trump, who praised his father’s close White House aide and slammed both CNN and Harp’s brother over the interview.
“What absolute trash,” Eric Trump wrote Wednesday morning on X. “Natalie is an incredible young woman — a cancer survivor, a genuinely good person and arguably one of the hardest-working people in the White House. She’s deeply committed to my father, to her job, and to this country.”
“From the looks of it, she got all the family genetics,” Eric Trump added, remarking, “CNN continues to be a joke.”
What absolute trash.
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 19, 2026
Natalie is an incredible young woman — a cancer survivor, a genuinely good person, and arguably one of the hardest-working people in the White House. She’s deeply committed to my father, to her job, and to this country.
From the looks of it, she got all the… https://t.co/ByhOFZvggo
Harp has been thrust into the center of controversy after Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff name-checked her at a Sunday rally, accusing Trump of being more interested in playing golf and traveling with Harp than actually serving as president. It has also been revealed that Harp was one of the few White House officials chosen to go with Trump when he covertly switched planes to avoid an Iranian assassination threat after a NATO summit in Turkey last month.
“He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job; he wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie to their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar,” Ossoff said.
The Georgia senator has received pushback from prominent voices on both the Left and Right, but his comments seemingly prompted CNN’s interest in speaking with Harp’s brother. During his interview with Burnett, Harp said his sister’s “infatuation” with Trump is the result of their mother raising them to believe in American Exceptionalism.
“Trump is like everything that my mom taught us to respect,” Harp said. “I think that’s where her infatuation for Trump comes from, honestly, because I don’t think it’s a physical attraction.”
In the same interview, he said Harp is Trump’s “biggest fan” and implied that her loyalty and her “good-lucking” appearance may be why the president likes her.
