Trump explodes at CNN reporter after question about young blonde aide who wrote him besotted letters

By ROSS IBBETSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR and PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 21:17, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 21:22, 17 August 2026 Donald Trump angrily shouted 'quiet' at a female CNN reporter after she asked about his relationship with his 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp. The president's relationship with Natalie Harp has come under renewed scrutiny after Democratic Senator Jon Osoff mocked the pair at a rally in Georgia on Saturday. CNN's Kristen Holmes asked Trump for his response to Osoff's claim that he would rather 'build his ballroom and travel with Natalie' than do the job of president. Trump called Ossoff a 'Pee Wee Herman lookalike' and said that 'we're fixing a White House that hasn't been taken care of.' Holmes later attempted to follow up with a question about South Korea before Trump had finished speaking, sending him into a tailspin. 'Quiet. Quiet. Quiet!' Trump shouted at Holmes. 'You're very disrespectful in front of this young man,' Trump added, gesturing to 10-year-old Nathaniel Ray, who was being recognized at the White House after he was rescued from rough surf in California last month.   'You're a loud, boisterous person. You're fake news,' Trump said, as he repeatedly told Holmes to 'be quiet' as she battled to get her question across. Donald Trump angrily shouted 'quiet' at a female CNN reporter after she asked about his relationship with his 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp in the Oval Office on Monday CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes speaks live on television in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 27 Trump and aide Natalie Harp exit Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House on August 16 Harp listens as Trump announces Dulles International Airport renovations in the Oval Office on July 29 Outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared furious and mouthed something to a colleague after Holmes asked her question. The official White House social media account and its proxies rounded on Holmes afterwards. 'Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,' said the White House's official Rapid Response 47 account. 'They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.' The White House branded Holmes 'a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.' Holmes is a Senior White House Correspondent at CNN where she has worked for more than 14 years. The Daily Mail has contacted Holmes for comment.   Trump's relationship with Harp is back in the limelight after he chose to save her over his own cabinet secretaries amid an Iranian assassination threat after the NATO summit in Turkey in July.  Harp was among a handful of aides including Trump's former caddy Dan Scavino who switched planes with him on the tarmac in Ankara.  Israeli intelligence had warned of an impending Iranian attack on Air Force One. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were left on the other plane with dozens of journalists.  Donald Trump meets with 16-year-old California State Parks lifeguard Ryder Williams (left) and 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai in the Oval Office at the White House on August 17 Harp is also known as his 'human printer' for her habit of sharing printed copies of articles and social media posts that the president wants to read. There's rarely an event or trip where she's not glued closely to his side. Sources have told the Daily Mail that Harp is Trump's closest aide, often dubbing her his 'connective tissue' with some pointing out that she has more access to the president than even his chief of staff Susie Wiles. Harp famously wrote, 'You're all that matters to me,' in a letter to Trump published by the New York Times in 2024.  She once ran behind his golf cart while he was playing in Scotland to keep him up to date with the latest news headlines.