The White House has condemned CNN reporter Kristen Holmes after she questioned Donald Trump about his relationship with aide Natalie Harp, marking the latest public clash between the administration and a female journalist.
At an Oval Office event on Monday, August 17, Holmes asked the president about remarks made by Democratic senator Jon Ossoff concerning Harp, one of Trump’s executive assistants.
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“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” the White House’s “Rapid Response” team wrote in an X post aimed at Holmes, alongside a video of Trump’s response.
Trump later turned on Holmes again when she asked about North Korea, calling her “very disrespectful.”
.@KristenhCNN: Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
“You’re a loud, boisterous person, you’re fake news, be quiet,” Mr Trump said to Ms Holmes.
CNN described the White House attacks as “beneath the office.”
“We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” the network said in a statement.
Harp, 35, has attracted growing online attention since reports emerged that she was among the small group of aides with Trump during a secret Air Force One aircraft swap in July.
Watch: Trump repeatedly tells reporter to be quiet in Oval Office
Ossoff, a Democratic senator who is seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, accused Trump during a campaign speech on Sunday of wanting to “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” rather than focus on his duties.
Trump dismissed Ossoff as a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike” and defended plans to build a $400 million ballroom at the White House. He did not refer directly to Harp.
The White House also rebuked Holmes for raising the subject during an Oval Office meeting with a lifeguard described as a hero.
“@POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffers,” the Rapid Response account said.
“These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”
Natalie Harp and Donald Trump arrive at the White House aboard Marine One on August 16
Harp, a former television news personality, is often seen beside Trump. Her role has led to the nickname “human printer” because she supplies the president with printed information.
In ‘Regime Change’, a book published this year, two New York Times reporters wrote that Harp’s loyalty included sending Trump “adoring letters”, one of which reportedly said: “You are all that matters to me.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had previously attacked Ossoff over the remarks about Harp, branding him “the biggest cuck loser in politics” – internet slang describing a submissive man.
Trump casts mail-in ballot despite calling voting method ‘inherently corrupt’
Separately, Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary on Tuesday, August 18, despite years of attacking the practice as corrupt and supporting efforts to limit its use before November’s midterm elections.
Voting records from Palm Beach County, cited by US media, indicate that Trump requested a ballot in late July and returned it last week for races in his adopted home state.
Trump has repeatedly alleged, without evidence, that mail-in voting is especially vulnerable to fraud, often tying those claims to his false assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
“Mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt,” he said in a July speech focused on election security.
Donald Trump backs congressman Byron Donalds in Florida Republican primary
The White House said Trump’s ballot did not conflict with his position because he was away from Florida, citing exceptions included in legislation he has urged Congress to pass.
“As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel — but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said.
“As everyone knows, the president is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington DC. This is a non-story,” she said.
White House officials say Trump has not returned to Florida in several months.
‘If you vote, you should go’ – Trump
Florida law permits any eligible registered voter to request a mail ballot, although the Republican-controlled state has tightened identification requirements and rules governing ballot handling in recent years.
Trump has urged Congress to approve the SAVE America Act, which would impose stricter identification and citizenship requirements while significantly limiting mail voting. His administration is also asking the Supreme Court to restore parts of an executive order on election procedures that lower courts blocked.
This is not the first occasion on which Trump has used a voting system he frequently criticises.
He voted by mail in Palm Beach County in 2020 and did so again in a Florida special election earlier this year.
After that vote, Trump defended casting a ballot while outside the state but repeated his wider opposition to mail voting.
“No, I think mail-in voting is a terrible thing,” he said. “I think if you vote, you should go.”
Florida’s primary includes the Republican race to replace term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis, with Trump supporting congressman Byron Donalds.
