Republican tax hawks are worried that key Trump administration tax policies could expire at the end of 2025 if congressional leaders follow through on a plan to break up a massive conservative budget bill into two parts.

Reconciliation is a way to fast-track legislation on issues like taxes, the debt limit and federal spending by bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for passage, instead lowering it to a simple 51-vote majority.

It is a process normally used once per year, but incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., floated a plan earlier this month to split Republicans’ reconciliation priorities into two bills – one dealing with the border and defense and a second aimed at implementing President-elect Donald Trump’s tax policy. The plan was also backed by top Trump adviser Stephen Miller.

However, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee, including Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., are concerned it could put their goals – such as preserving Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – out of reach.

‘I think because we’ve already had some of the provisions expire or sunset, and the remainder of the legislation expires at the end of 2025, that waiting toward the second half of the year puts a lot of it at risk. And there’s no way we can allow these rates to expire,’ Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. ‘Americans across the board will see a tax increase, and it really jeopardizes our quest to bring manufacturing home.’

She pointed out that Republicans are set to have a razor-thin majority in the next Congress.

‘I do get nervous that, you know, one person can hold it up, or two people could hold it up, and I think it’s best to try to do it as early as possible,’ she said. ‘I think that’s a belief that’s shared by many of the members on Ways & Means.’

Smith pointed out to Fox Business’ ‘Mornings With Maria’ that Congress has not passed two reconciliation bills into law in one year since 1997.

‘I am saying we need a reconciliation bill that has border, energy, permitting and tax. You put all four of those things together, we can deliver on that,’ Smith said.

He told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, ‘My focus all along is to make sure that we are best positioned to deliver on President Trump’s tax proposals and policies.’

The debate is putting top Republicans who will be in charge of crafting fiscal policy next year at odds, while both argue they are fighting for Trump’s agenda.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said Smith was doing an ‘excellent job’ and echoed concerns about a slim margin.

‘I think it is a big challenge. We have a very slim majority, and there are at least, I believe, two people, if not three of the Republicans, who voted against it are still here,’ he said.

Thune and other Republicans who support the two-track plan argued that taxes are more complex of an issue and would take longer to hash out.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told ‘Special Report’ host Bret Baier on Tuesday night, ‘There probably will be at least two reconciliation packages. So, the determination right now is where does the tax piece fit and do we do that first out of the gates, or do you wait a couple of months to get all that done? Because it can be very complicated.’

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., similarly argued, ‘I think we need to prove to the American people that we can actually defend our borders… The bottom line is I think they need to be on almost parallel tracks. But I do believe that taxes are much more complicated.’

However, a senior House GOP aide asked what was complex about extending tax provisions that were already put in place in 2017.

‘It’s confusing — given that extending the Trump tax cuts has been on the agenda for seven years and is a central campaign promise of [Trump’s], how can including them in a reconciliation bill require extra time and consideration by Senate Republicans, many of whom have already pledged their support?’ the aide posed.

The discussion is a preview of what Washington will look like next year when Republicans hold the White House and both congressional chambers.

If Republicans are unable to harness enough momentum to pass a tax bill next year, Americans across the country could see their taxes rise.

Ways & Means member Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said it ‘could be more difficult’ to pass a tax bill if it’s separated from the first reconciliation bill, but said he was ‘not at all concerned’ about Republicans coming to an agreement.

Another member of the committee, Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., agreed with the committee chair that one bill ‘would be a much better solution for us to work and get that process done.’

However, Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga., also on the panel, did not give insight into his stance but said he was optimistic.

‘I think this reconciliation process will be very different than what we did back in 2017, because I think members are better prepared, committees are better prepared, and I think the president’s going to be much better prepared,’ he said. ‘So I wouldn’t get too worked up over a division of the plans right now.’

President Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter after previously vowing he would not give his son a pass has the approval of only 20% of Americans, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found about half of adults disapprove of the pardon, which came after Hunter was convicted on felony gun and tax charges. 

About 18% of adults neither approved nor disapproved of the decision, while 8% said they didn’t know enough to say one way or the other, according to the poll.

While Democrats were more likely to approve of the pardon than Republicans and Independents, the poll showed just 38% of Democrats approve compared to 27% who said they disapproved of the about-face.

About 80% of Republicans and 51% of Independents disapproved of the pardon, according to the poll. 

Biden issued a sweeping pardon for Hunter on Dec. 1 after he stated on record multiple times that he would not pardon him should a jury convict his son.

The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. 

The president argued in a statement that Hunter was ‘singled out only because he is my son’ and that there was an effort to ‘break Hunter’ in order to ‘break me.’

Reporters grilled White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre a day after the pardon, asking whether Biden and his surrogates lied to the American people. Jean-Pierre responded, ‘One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people,’ and repeatedly pointed to Biden’s own statement on the matter.

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Outgoing Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen said that she’s ‘concerned about fiscal sustainability’ and thinks the deficit must be decreased.

She made the comments during the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit after Greg Ip, chief economic commentator for the outlet, noted that President Joe Biden and Yellen are leaving behind a big budget deficit. ‘Are you sorry you couldn’t make more progress on that?’ he asked. Ip also asked Yellen how much risk the issue presents to the economy.

‘Well I am concerned about fiscal sustainability. And I am sorry that we haven’t made more progress. I believe that the deficit needs to be brought down, especially now that we’re in an environment of higher interest rates,’ Yellen replied. 

Yellen helmed the Treasury Department during President Joe Biden’s White House tenure, but will soon step down as Biden’s term ends next month.

In that time, the already-massive national debt continued soaring to new heights, and has now surpassed $36 trillion.

‘Today, the U.S. economy is in strong shape, with a robust labor market and solid economic growth. Tune in as I join @Greg_Ip at the @WSJ CEO Council Summit to discuss the economic progress we have made under the leadership of @POTUS and @VP,’ Yellen declared in a post on X.

Trump decisively defeated Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential contest, winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote.

The president-elect tapped Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury Department secretary in his upcoming administration.

‘Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists,’ Trump said in a statement last month.

Yellen previously served as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of governors from early February 2014 through early February 2018.

President Biden and key Democrats are now opposing a once bipartisan bill that would have authorized 63 new permanent district judgeships now that President-elect Donald Trump would be the one to fill 21 of those slots once he takes office.

The Senate in August passed the ‘Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act’ or the ‘JUDGES Act of 2024,’ which staggers the 63 new permanent judgeships the president may choose over the next 10 years. Citing how courts are burdened by heavy caseloads, the bill says the president shall appoint 11 of those permanent judgeships in 2025 and 11 more in 2027. The president would tap another 10 judges in 2029, 11 in 2031, 10 in 2033 and 10 more in 2035, the bill says. 

Democrats are decrying how the bill did not come to a vote in the House before the election – when control of the next presidency, and therefore which party would choose those next 21 judges, still hung in the balance. 

The White House released a statement on Tuesday saying Biden would now veto the bill if it came to his desk. 

‘While judicial staffing is important to the rule of law, S. 4199 is unnecessary to the efficient and effective administration of justice,’ the White House said. ‘The bill would create new judgeships in states where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies. Those efforts to hold open vacancies suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now.’ 

‘In addition, neither the House nor the Senate fully explored how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,’ the White House continued. ‘Further, the Senate passed this bill in August, but the House refused to take it up until after the election. Hastily adding judges with just a few weeks left in the 118th Congress would fail to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the judges are allocated.’ 

During a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Chip Roy, R-N.C., and House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, made the argument that a significant number of districts in states, regardless of their political make-up, have sounded the alarm about staffing shortages worsening the backlogs of cases. However, despite the significant need, they argued, the appointment process has become politicized.

‘We need the number of judges,’ Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, admitted. ‘However, President Trump has shown, he bragged that by his three appointments, he overturned Roe v. Wade. He said he was going to do it. He did it. So don’t tell me it’s not political.’ 

‘Under this legislation, we all promised to give the next three unknown presidents a certain number of judges,’ Nadler said. ‘Because no one can tell the future we were all at an equal disadvantage, but for this deal to work, the bill had to be passed before Election Day.’

The bill text cites how as of March 31, 2023, there were 686,797 pending cases in the district courts across the country, with an average of 491 weighted case filings per judgeship over a 12-month period.

Shortly before the White House released its statement signaling Biden would veto the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave a speech noting how the JUDGES Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent in August.

The bipartisan support, McConnell argued, proved ‘that the right to a speedy trial still enjoys overwhelming popularity.’ 

‘I was particularly encouraged by the vocal endorsement of our friend, the Democratic leader, who recognized the measure as, quote, ‘very responsible, bipartisan and prudent bill that would lead to a better functioning judiciary.’ Soon, we expect the House to take up and pass the JUDGES Act with similar overwhelming support,’ McConnell said. ‘And normally, we could rest assured that such popular action would be signed into law without further ado. But maybe not this time.’ 

‘Last week, the White House seemed to suggest, through anonymous comment that President Biden has concerns with the bill. I, for one, would be curious to hear the president’s rationale. It’s hard to imagine a justification for blocking the JUDGES Act that doesn’t smack of naked partisanship,’ McConnell, who did lead the GOP effort to block former President Obama’s appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, said. ‘It’s almost inconceivable that a lame duck president would consider vetoing such an obviously prudential step for any reason other than selfish spite.’

‘Litigants across America deserve their day in court,’ he said. ‘They deserve to know the federal judiciary has the bandwidth to carefully and thoroughly consider their cases. The president, former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is well equipped to appreciate this fact, and I hope he acts accordingly.’ 

The Biden administration has renewed a controversial sanctions waiver that will allow Iran access to some $10 billion in payments from Iraq – an action that came just two days after President-elect Trump emerged victorious on Election Day.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken again extended the waiver for humanitarian trade, which permits Iran to access accounts in Iraq and Oman. However, Republican critics have said that allowing the Iranian regime access to these funds frees up money Iran can use to support terrorism in the Middle East or advance its nuclear program.

‘On November 7th, the department did renew Iraq’s electricity waiver for the 23rd time since 2018. It was done so for an additional 120 days,’ State Department spokesman Vedant Patel confirmed last week. 

‘We remain committed to reducing Iran’s malign influence in the region. Our viewpoint is that a stable, sovereign and secure Iraq is critical to these efforts,’ he added, pointing out that this sanctions waiver began in 2018 during the first Trump administration. 

Congress has passed several sanctions targeting Iran that give the president authority to temporarily suspend, or ‘waive’ the sanctions if the president determines doing so is in the interests of U.S. national security. 

The waiver is set to expire after Trump takes office in January. It is unclear whether the Trump administration would again extend the sanctions relief. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, argued Tuesday that the sanctions waiver allows Iran to fund proxy terror groups that have attacked U.S. forces in the Middle East.

‘The House voted to eliminate these waiver authorities — twice. But the Biden administration is still waiving the sanctions, putting more money in the Iranian regime’s pockets to fund its terrorist proxies and nuclear weapons program,’ McCaul posted on X. 

‘The U.S. should not be subsidizing Iran’s malign activities.’ 

Donald Trump is making a deliberate effort to soften his tone.

Or is he?

I’ve given this a lot of thought, having interviewed Trump twice this year, including two weeks before the election. He was focused and substantive, trying to reach a more independent audience, and while he took some campaign-style shots, he was relatively restrained by Trumpian standards.

Now that he’s the de facto president, I saw a similar Trump on display in the ‘Meet the Press’ interview. Kristen Welker’s follow-ups must have annoyed him, because he told her she had asked ‘nasty’ questions.

During the campaign, such episodes were overshadowed by Trump’s rock-n-roll rallies, where he’d ramble on about the great Hannibal Lecter or Arnold Palmer’s genitalia. But his declaration on NBC that he also wants to represent those who didn’t vote for him is a long way from his 2017 ‘American carnage’ inaugural address.

And yet, the president-elect has also mastered the art of saying things that can be interpreted two ways, or sending not-so-coded messages.

The Washington Post editorial board, not a big fan, says Trump ‘tried to sound a conciliatory tone’ with Welker, backed by substance.

Trump declared he wouldn’t oust Fed chief Jerome Powell, and wants to work with Democrats to protect the Dreamers. Trump said he ‘would not restrict the national availability of abortion medication, and that the United States will ‘absolutely’ remain in NATO, as long as other member states spend what they have pledged on defense.’ 

And why shouldn’t he appear more reasonable? He’s got the job he believes was unfairly taken from him. He can’t run again. He knows his first term was savaged by the left-leaning media establishment. If he can have a more successful second term – after turning on some top aides in the last go-round – he could modify history’s verdict.

And that brings us to the question of retribution. He said on NBC that the best retribution is success, the same line he used with me. On ‘Meet the Press’ he even retracted a campaign declaration that he would name a special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden. 

When Welker asked whether he’d order the Justice Department, which he sees as having persecuted him, to investigate Biden and his administration, Trump gave a response that I doubt he would have offered in the first term.

No, he said, that would be up to his attorney general and FBI director, which will definitely be Pam Bondi and probably Kash Patel. Would he tell them to do it? Nope.

It’s called distancing.

Now one could argue that he was in effect suggesting they do it by announcing it on national television. But I’m sure they knew his views anyway. 

Trump’s one misstep on NBC was lashing out at members of the House Jan. 6 Committee. He said Liz Cheney ‘did something that’s inexcusable, along with [Bennie] Thompson and people on the Un-Select Committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,’ Trump told moderator Kristen Welker, arguing without proof that they ‘deleted and destroyed’ testimony. ‘Honestly, they should go to jail.’

So that was a gift to his critics, enabling most journalists to lead with him wanting the lawmakers behind bars. By the way, their investigation and hearings are protected by the Speech and Debate clause, which gives the members immunity.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told CNN that his boss’ words had been taken ‘out of context,’ that he ‘wants everyone who he puts into key positions of leadership … to apply the law equally to everybody,’ mentioning Bondi and Patel.

In a similar vein, Trump has mainly avoided attacks on individual journalists, this after saying he would reach out to even hostile outlets. But he made an exception and mocked Maggie Haberman of the New York Times when she co-authored a couple of stories he didn’t like.

So will we be getting Trump 2.0, or Trump 1.0 with plenty of fancy packaging?

Veteran Trump watchers know that he can slip off the high road when he gets angry, that it’s not just about mass deportations, slashing inflation and drill, baby, drill. 

But I still believe we’re seeing a more disciplined, restrained and moderate Trump so far. He campaigned on shaking things up, so there are plenty of clashes to unfold. What’s fascinating is that he’s already essentially running the country while Biden has faded and, since the pardon fiasco, is refusing to talk to the press.

The House Task Force investigating the assassination attempts on President-elect Trump’s life has released its final report on Tuesday, detailing ‘preexisting conditions and leadership failures’ that led to the deadly campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July.

While the bipartisan panel was given ample information on that shooting, the report suggested requests for documents on the second attempt on Trump’s life – this one at his Palm Beach golf course in September – were seemingly stonewalled.

‘The Task Force notes that as of the date of publication of this report, [the Department of Homeland Security], [U.S. Secret Service], FBI, and [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] have not produced any documents responsive to the Task Force’s requests regarding the preparation for, events of, and response to the second assassination attempt that occurred on September 15,’ the report said.

Lawmakers found ‘critical vulnerabilities’ in the security of that site. The report said Secret Service agents identified the golf course’s outer perimeter as ‘a favorable position for potential snipers.’

The report also called on the Secret Service to review its protocols for golf courses – which would be a significant policy overhaul, given Trump and past presidents’ historic penchant for golfing.

Other recommendations in the 180-page report include calling on Congress to consider taking the Secret Service out from under the purview of DHS.

‘The current structure potentially weakens USSS, a small but critically important agency, in advocating for its budget and other priorities inside a much larger entity,’ the report said.

‘The failure in [Butler, Pennsylvania] was far from the first significant USSS failure in recent history, and it is fair to question whether USSS should continue to be housed within DHS.’

The Secret Service was under the Treasury Department until 2003, when it was moved to the newly formed DHS, but the task force advocated for it to be its own structure entirely.

‘A fresh look at whether USSS might benefit from the status of an independent agency, with more freedom to make budget requests and advocate for itself, would be a healthy discussion for former USSS leaders to have with Congress,’ the report said.

The Task Force also recommended conserving resources by limiting who gets Secret Service protection. 

‘The number of individuals being protected has greatly expanded, a resource demand which becomes further taxed during the longer and more intensive modern presidential campaign seasons,’ the report said.

Foreign dignitaries’ Secret Service protection particularly strains resources during the United Nations General Assembly, the report said. That takes place in September, the same month of the second attempt on Trump’s life.

‘As a result, Congress, DHS, and the USSS should jointly consider the protective role the USSS plays for foreign leaders and consider whether such duties can be transferred or abrogated in order to focus on the USSS’s primary duty: to protect the President and other critical U.S. leaders,’ the report said.

The House voted unanimously to form the committee earlier this year. The Secret Service was barraged with scrutiny after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania from just outside the rally perimeter.

Trump was injured along with two others, and one attendee was killed.

Later in September, USSS agents opened fire on a 58-year-old man who had a rifle aimed at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where the president-elect was out for the day.

The task force contrasted both events in its report, however, and cast the latter incident in a better light.

‘The various failures in planning, execution, and leadership on and before July 13, 2024, and the preexisting conditions that undermined the effectiveness of the human and material assets deployed that day, coalesced to create an environment in which the former President — and everyone at the campaign event — were exposed to grave danger,’ the report said.

‘Conversely, the events that transpired on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination.’

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News Digital in response to the report, ‘The U.S. Secret Service appreciates the diligence and dedication displayed by Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Crow and the distinguished members of the House Task Force as they investigated and identified the factors that contributed to the assassination attempt of President-elect Donald Trump and the Secret Service’s failures during the protective advance leading up to July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania.’

‘The findings of the House Task Force align with our internal Mission Assurance Inquiry. Today’s report reinforces our resolve to bring change to the Secret Service. We continue to take action to acquire new technologies, strengthen training, develop our personnel, and seek resources to fortify the Secret Service,’ Guglielmi said.

Fox News Digital also reached out to DHS for comment.

President-elect Trump’s assistant Natalie Harp said ‘confidentiality, speed, accuracy, and adaptability’ are key to delivering for the president, as lawmakers who communicate with her regularly told Fox News Digital that she is ‘critical’ in ensuring Congress is a ‘real partner’ for the incoming administration. 

Harp has worked alongside the president-elect throughout his campaign and the transition, since 2022. The 33-year-old is expected to join the president at the White House for his second term, and Trump Transition Team sources say she will have an ‘important role’ in the White House. 

But according to several top lawmakers, governors and members of Trump’s team, Harp is more than just an assistant. 

Sources close to the transition team told Fox News Digital that Harp has been a ‘valuable resource’ for getting information to the president ‘in a timely manner.’ 

Steven Cheung, spokesman for the Trump Transition Team and incoming White House communications director, told Fox News Digital that Harp is ‘a trusted and valued member of President Trump’s team.’ 

‘And she is certainly a big reason why his operation has been as successful as it has ever been,’ Cheung told Fox News Digital. ‘Her work ethic and dedication to helping President Trump achieve his historic victory is second to none.’ 

‘I believe she is an extra set of eyes and ears for President Trump,’ Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., told Fox News Digital. ‘Every time I have been with him, she has been close at hand.’ 

Barrasso explained that Harp is in regular communication with him and other senators and members of Congress via text message. 

‘I text her if I need to get to the president,’ Barrasso explained. ‘If he doesn’t pick up the phone, I know to go to Natalie, and he gets the message.’ 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also said he goes to Harp to set up anything from ‘golf to the most sensitive foreign policy matters.’ 

‘You want to get something to President Trump, she’s the person to talk to,’ Graham told Fox News Digital. ‘I trust Natalie to keep anything I communicate to President Trump confidential. She is very dedicated to the president – she is very loyal and always professional and always polite.’ 

Graham added: ‘She will promptly respond to requests by senators – I’ve heard that from others – and I feel like when I am communicating with Natalie, I am communicating in a sense of trust.’ 

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Harp touted the president for having ‘truly invested time in building a network of allies, in Congress, media, and business, that is unrivaled.’ She said those relationships have ‘deep roots’ and credited them to accessibility. 

‘Communication by phone and by text is always open,’ Harp said.  

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told Fox News Digital he’s worked with Harp directly ‘on many occasions.’ 

‘She is the ultimate professional – highly driven, disciplined and loyal,’ McMaster said. ‘She has and will continue to serve President Trump and our country well.’ 

Harp created a ‘mobile office’ for the president during the campaign, telling Fox News Digital that she did so because the president wants to stay ‘accessible.’ 

‘Breaking news has no consideration for where you are. That’s how our mobile office started,’ Harp said. ‘Many times, the president wants to get his thoughts out on paper, so I’ll take dictation, print, and then he works on it until he has the words just right for a viral Truth.’ 

Harp said she had the idea to get a mobile printer to ‘speed up the process,’ noting that printers ‘aren’t always accessible’ on the golf course or on the road.

And Harp said the set-up is how they ‘get breaking information we can act on, in real time, and vice versa.’ 

Harp told Fox News Digital she regularly communicates with that network of allies, sending news clippings and even polling members of Congress on timely issues and legislation. 

‘He can virtually whip votes in a matter of minutes,’ Harp said. 

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that Harp ‘keeps us in the loop’ on Capitol Hill. 

‘If you want a Congress that represents a real partner for the incoming president, it’s important to share information,’ Jackson told Fox News Digital. ‘Natalie is critical in making sure members of Congress feel like they’re part of the president’s team.’ 

But in working for the president, Harp said ‘confidentiality, speed, accuracy, and adaptability’ are ‘the nature of the job.’ 

‘The president deserves nothing less,’ Harp told Fox News Digital. ‘Yes, he works 24/7, but it never feels like he’s driving or pushing us to work harder. Rather, he inspires us to be more, and do more, because he sets the example himself.’ 

When asked what type of information Harp brings the president or shares with his allies, she said, ‘It depends.’ 

‘During the various witch hunts, I researched what legal experts and scholars were writing about the cases. When we were out campaigning, I monitored reviews to see what parts of the president’s messaging were resonating best,’ she explained. ‘I have a big database of websites that I source from. Sometimes I go through back-to-back, checking top headlines and, if I see one on an issue the president has been talking about or that he’s interested in, I grab it.’ 

Harp traveled with the president throughout the campaign, spent days in court as he battled now-dismissed cases against him, and was even with him during both assassination attempts in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, and September at Trump International Golf Course in Palm Beach, Florida.

‘We share a deep faith in God, but now, a ‘miracle’ is something we’ve not just read about, but lived, not once but two times,’ Harp said. ‘Some have said that they see a ‘changed’ Donald Trump after two assassination attempts. I disagree. These gut-wrenching experiences have not left him a different person, but only revealed to the world who he has always been.’ 

Harp said that is ‘the same misunderstanding that the 2024 presidential election is the story of Donald Trump’s comeback.’ 

‘It isn’t. He’d be the first to say so – he never went anywhere. It is others who left, only to return or, who never gave him a chance, that are finally coming around,’ Harp said. ‘None of this is to say that the president hasn’t changed at all through the years, but rather that the essence of who he is has only become more visible.’ 

Harp recalled being in court with the president, when he would ‘occasionally close his eyes and listen.’ 

‘He is on a totally different plane, at peace with God, and unshakably focused. Nothing gets to him, because he puts his comfort second, and his purpose first,’ Harp said of the president. ‘If people could just tune out the noise and prejudice coming from those who, whether purposefully or unintentionally, misunderstand him, you will see the heart of a man who had everything, but continues to risk it all, for love, of country, and the American people.’ 

Harp studied business finance at Point Loma University and received her Master of Business Administration from Liberty University. 

Harp, who battled and survived stage 2 bone cancer, credits Trump’s 2018 ‘Right to Try’ law with saving her life. The measure allows terminally ill patients to access drug treatments that have not yet been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Harp penned an op-ed in 2019 about her experience with Right to Try, which went viral. She appeared on ‘Fox & Friends’ to share her story in June 2019.  After her appearance, Trump tweeted, ‘Proud of Natalie!’ and invited her onstage at his next event, in Washington D.C., at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference, where she called him her ‘Good Samaritan.’

‘Donald Trump isn’t just a believer in miracles, he helps to make them happen,’ Harp told Fox News Digital. 

Barrasso, a physician, echoed Harp’s sentiment about Right to Try, saying she ‘is a great success’ of the legislation. 

‘It is possible she would not have been able to survive,’ Barrasso said. ‘The fact that she is still with us is a miracle itself, and she wants to spend every day thanking God for what she has, and she does an awful, awful lot with and for President Trump.’ 

Harp later joined the Trump 2020 presidential campaign’s advisory board and spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

‘She keeps everybody in a really good mood, and most importantly, she keeps the president in a really good mood, and I think she has been key to his success throughout the campaign,’ Rep. Ronny Jackson told Fox News Digital. ‘As a physician, from a psychological standpoint, when you are around people who are in a good mood, that are laughing, that are smiling, it makes you feel better as well – that’s just human nature – and I think it’s important to have someone like Natalie around, who never gets down about anything.’  

‘She’s the first person up in the morning and the last person to go to bed,’ Jackson said. ‘The unbelievable work ethic, combined with her bubbly personality, is a unique combo that is really good for President Trump and really good for our country.’