Michael Wolff has claimed that notes written by Natalie Harp, Donald Trump's executive assistant, contained language suggesting the president was "punishing" her, describing them as "love notes" that sparked concern among the Secret Service.
Harp, who is in her 30s, has been dubbed the "human printer" by critics after shadowing Trump with a printer to supply him with printed material. She is also reported to be "ever-present", accompanying the president to meetings, public engagements and even his golf outings. Her proximity to Trump, 80, has also sparked unfounded "diaper nurse" and "side piece" taunts from internet users, owing to continued speculation over the nature of their relationship.
Last month, the book "Regime Change" by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan claimed Harp left private notes for Trump in what were described as "personal spaces". One note reportedly told the president: "You are all that matters to me."
Wolff's "All or Nothing"
Speaking to journalist Joanna Coles on the Daily Beast's "Inside Trump's Head", Wolff teased revelations from his own book, "All or Nothing". He said: "In my book, in All or Nothing, I, you know, I produce a set of notes that she (Harp) had written, the president, I mean, love letters in which everybody was in a major kerfuffle over this, including the Secret Service."
He added: "Warning the president of the United States - or warning aides to the president whose job it was then to bring to the president, whether they did or not, that they saw her as a danger to herself and to him."
A "danger to herself and to him"
When asked whether the notes suggested Harp is "in love" with Trump, Wolff responded: "I mean, these are love notes, mash notes. Yeah, completely."
Wolff also contended that everything Trump reads is "funnelled through Natalie Harp". He said she prints out "laudatory" information for the president, but "in this pile of papers, she's also frequently includes personal notes to him and notes that, you know, you're the Alpha and the Omega, the be all and end all. What would I be without you? And then weird kind of language of...which kind of suggests him punishing her. I don't know, I'm not even going to go there."
Coles replied: "Him punishing her? That sounds very strange. Well, they're sort of motivational love notes, aren't they? That's what I thought when I read them, that they're sort of supposed to be motivating for him."
Wolff countered, saying he did not consider that to be "true at all", and suggested the notes implied she wished to "climb into bed" with the president. He said: "She doesn't say this, but I think that's the tone of this - 'I love you. I exist because of you. I exist only in your shadow'."
Fallout
The revelations come as Trump faces fierce criticism and was condemned for a "disgusting" act during Lindsey Graham's funeral.
