When a CNN reporter earlier this week asked Trump about Ossoff’s comments, the White House reacted angrily later on its official X account, saying the reporter, Kristen Holmes, had taken a “cheap shot” at a staff member.

“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” another post directed to Holmes read. “They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive.”

Harp’s presence as a staffer is nearly constant in Trump’s second term.

Reporters at the White House frequently see her standing just feet away from Trump in the Oval Office or boarding Air Force One for many of his domestic and international trips.

“She’s always around,” one source close to the White House told the BBC. “Literally, always.”

Among White House insiders and members of the press, she is often referred to as the “human printer” because she is often spotted carrying a portable printer to provide Trump with hard copies of articles and social media posts, which he prefers.

In practice, this means that Harp has an outsized ability to control what information or updates Trump receives, according to another source familiar with White House operations.

Other anonymous sources have described her to US media outlets as a “gatekeeper” and “comfort blanket”.

Harp also serves as something of a social media scribe for Trump, posting to his Truth Social account on his behalf.

In one image that has been widely shared in the aftermath of Ossoff’s comments, Harp is shown typing a post – in the president’s own writing style – as he dictates to her while watching a speech of Kamala Harris in 2024.

Amid the recent focus on Harp, the White House has described her as a “trusted and valued” member of the team, although Trump has rarely spoken about her on camera.

Ossoff was one of many Trump critics who noted Harp was reportedly on the plane that the president boarded to leave Turkey after the US supposedly received information about a threat from Iran.

Reporter Haberman, who has also reported extensively on Trump’s presidencies, was asked during an appearance on the news network MSNOW why Trump took Harp with him on the secret plane: “Because she is sort of his binky, for lack of a better way of putting it, a comfort blanket.”

Haberman and Swan reported for the New York Times in 2024 that Harp had supposedly written in a letter to Trump: “You are all that matters to me.”