The ‘revolutionary’ life in Nicaragua of devoted Trump aide Natalie Harp’s brother

Preston Harp was a man outside the media spotlight until his younger sister, Natalie Harp, found herself in the headlines in the United States as President Donald Trump’s most “devoted” aide. She was part of the small inner circle that accompanied the U.S. president in a secret plane change on July 8, at the end of the NATO summit in Ankara, after the Secret Service detected a possible Iranian threat. That notoriety dragged with it a curious detail: her brother lives on the other side of the political spectrum, in Nicaragua — a country that Washington sanctions constantly — and he fiercely defends the authoritarian regime of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.

Natalie Harp, 35, is nicknamed “the human printer” in the halls of the White House. The moniker describes both her role and her devotion: always at Trump’s side, attentive, ready to print the documents, articles, and posts the president insists on reviewing on paper and in specific formats. She entered the Republican orbit in 2019 when she said she had overcome bone cancer thanks to the Right to Try policy, which broadened her access to experimental treatments. From rallies and an appearance at the Republican National Convention she moved to working directly for Trump on his return to the Oval Office.

Journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, authors of a book about the Republican’s second term, describe her as “the most devoted” member of his team of aides; Trump himself has said she loves him as much as his wife and children. That closeness entered the political arena a few days ago when Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff used her to question the president’s priorities, triggering an angry reaction from the White House.

The extent of that access became clear on July 8. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent remained on Air Force One, used as a decoy, Natalie Harp was among the few officials who accompanied Trump on the plane to which he was moved in secret. The incident catapulted her into the American political conversation and, in the process, exposed her brother, who had settled in Ortega’s “Christian, socialist, and solidarity-based” Nicaragua.

In Masatepe, a municipality on the shores of Nicaragua’s Pacific coast, 38-year-old Preston Harp enjoys himself in bars, declares himself a Sandinista, is photographed at regime events co-presided by Rosario Murillo, and uses artificial intelligence to pose in a National Police uniform — the main repressive arm of the Ortega-Murillo government, an institution the United States has accused of being behind the brutal repression of the 2018 protests that demanded the end of the regime. The massacre left more than 360 people dead, according to human rights organizations. Harp displays his “revolutionary” life without reservations on social media.

Preston Harp embodies, almost to the letter, the cliché of the anti-imperialist American expatriate: long, hippie-style hair and open sympathy for governments that claim to be revolutionary. In Nicaragua he works alongside veteran U.S. activist S. Brian Willson, who lost both legs in 1987 after being run over by a Navy ammunition train while protesting the shipment of arms to the Contras, and whom the Ronald Reagan administration once labeled a “domestic terrorist.” Decades later, co-president Rosario Murillo praises Willson in Managua as a “living hero.” Harp reviews his memoirs and writings, and with his sister in the eye of the media storm, he has emerged from anonymity.

Preston spoke this week about his sister with journalist Erin Burnett of CNN. He described her as being fascinated with the White House and U.S. presidents since her teens and that she used to write them letters. By making her way into Trump’s inner circle, “her dream came true, finally,” he added.

Natalie and Preston grew up in California, homeschooled under a very conservative Christian upbringing. He remembers his mother as deeply religious and strict, and he developed a rebellious streak early on, drawn to rock, skating, and authors such as Carl Sagan and Jack Kerouac. Natalie was the obedient daughter. Preston says much of his sister’s admiration for Trump stems from the “American exceptionalism” they both learned at home. The relationship fractured in July 2020 when their father, Robert Harp, took his own life during the pandemic. Preston told the Daily Mail that his mother and sister wanted to tell other relatives he had died in his sleep, and that he decided to reveal what had actually happened.

Natalie and their mother moved soon after to West Palm Beach, a few miles from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Florida. He took another path: he worked as a musician and supermarket employee, and in 2022 he traveled to Nicaragua, where he said he felt, for the first time since his father’s death, something like peace. A year later he settled in the country governed by Ortega and Murillo.

Propagandist for the regime

In his social media posts, Preston Harp is an ardent defender of the co-presidential regime. For example, in one of his most recent Facebook posts, he said the Sandinista Front governs because it was “elected by the people.” He denied Nicaragua is a dictatorship and presented government rallies featuring public employees as an expression of gratitude toward the Sandinista Revolution. “Who has control? The people,” he wrote, before closing with the slogans “¡Viva el Frente Sandinista!” and “¡Patria libre o morir!” His defense came just a month after Ortega, at the official July 19 ceremony, announced the end of the electoral route in Nicaragua: “There will be no more elections here,” he declared.

In the CNN interview, Harp said he had no interest in building bridges with his family. He said he no longer has a relationship with Natalie or their mother, nor any intention of returning to the United States. “I can’t connect with that vibe, so I’m just going to leave it,” he said, referring to the relationship they have with President Trump. While his sister remains at the heart of the White House, Preston has chosen to make his life in Ortega and Murillo’s Nicaragua, convinced he has found there the “peace” he was seeking.

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