Why Trump Has So Many Weird Work Wives: Guru

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters President Donald Trump is “paranoid” and trusts an increasingly small number of people that includes his so-called “work wives,” a top political analyst says.

David Rothkopf tells The Daily Beast Podcast that this is why Trump is so close to his 35-year-old personal assistant, Natalie Harp, and why he was so torn up by the departure of his 29-year-old press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.

“Trump doesn’t have a wife around him,” Rothkopf said.

“He doesn’t have kids around him.

I don’t think he likes his kids—he certainly didn’t go to Don Jr.’s wedding .

People beyond, like, one degree of separation can’t be trusted.

He’s paranoid.” Harp, a former right-wing TV host who now makes $150,000 annually to be at Trump’s beck and call as his special assistant and executive assistant, was photographed with the president on 18 days between July 20 and Aug.

19—a period in which first lady Melania Trump was not photographed with the president once.

There has been intense scrutiny of the president’s relationship with Harp, which was sent into overdrive this month after the Daily Beast exclusively published a pair of fawning letters that Harp wrote him during or immediately after a visit to Scotland in 2023.

Rothkopf believes the president likes Harp because she constantly showers him with praise.

Others described as Trump’s “work wives” include his communications aide Margo Martin, 31, this term, as well as former aide Hope Hicks, 37, during his first term.

“So how does he create the idea that life is pleasant, that he’s a human being?” Rothkopf said of the president.

“He has these women that he has around him, particularly people like Natalie Harp, who’s a really egregious case, who are like, ‘You’re great boss.

You’re a wonderful man.