The Harp Paradox: She Is Trump’s Devoted Aide, He Promotes Nicaragua’s Ortega

By 100% Noticias

HAVANA TIMES – Natalie Harp is part of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the White House, while her brother Preston lives in Nicaragua, calls himself a Sandinista, and uses his social media accounts to defend the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Two siblings raised in California ended up at opposite political poles: Natalie Harp, Trump’s aide, and her older brother, Preston Harp.

While Natalie Harp has become one of the closest and most loyal aides to President Trump, her older brother, Preston Harp, chose a radically different path: he settled in Nicaragua, identifies as a Sandinista, and uses social media to defend the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, despite Managua’s growing confrontation with Washington.

The story of the Harp siblings seems marked by a political contradiction that is difficult to ignore. Natalie, 35, operates at the heart of US power and has achieved a level of closeness to Trump that recently put her back in the spotlight. Preston, 38, has lived in Nicaragua since 2023 and has publicly expressed his support for the Sandinista Front.

An investigation published by EL PAÍS on August 21 documented Preston’s life in Nicaragua, particularly in Masatepe, where he frequents bars, participates in activities linked to the government, and openly displays his Sandinista sympathies on social media.

The Nicaraguan outlet Divergentes also recently reconstructed the siblings’ story and described Preston as a US American who defines himself as “anti-imperialist” and says he has found in the Nicaragua governed by Ortega and Murillo the “peace” he was looking for.

The paradox is clear: the sister works alongside the president of the United States, while the brother, from Nicaragua, defends a regime politically at odds with Washington.

Who Is Preston Harp and How Did He End Up in Nicaragua?

Preston and Natalie grew up in California in a Christian and deeply conservative family.

According to Preston’s accounts reported by EL PAÍS, Divergentes, and other US media outlets, both were homeschooled. He developed a more rebellious personality, with an interest in rock music, skateboarding, and writers such as Jack Kerouac, while he describes Natalie as the child who adhered more closely to the family’s rules.

Over the years, their paths diverged even further.

One family event ultimately fractured their relationship: the death of their father, Robert Harp, in 2020.

Preston has told US media that he went through several difficult years following the loss. While Natalie and their mother eventually settled in Florida, near Mar-a-Lago, he went in a different direction.

In 2022, he traveled to Nicaragua for the first time.

He has said that the experience gave him a sense of tranquility that he had not felt since his father’s death.

A year later, he decided to settle in the country.

From California to Defending the Sandinista Front

Preston’s life in Nicaragua has not been limited to that of a US American who has withdrawn from his country’s politics.

Harp has become an outspoken supporter of the Ortega-Murillo government.

On social media, he rejects the claim that Nicaragua is a dictatorship and argues that the Sandinista Front remains in power by popular choice.

In one of the posts cited by both media outlets, Preston defended pro-government rallies and ended by using historic Sandinista slogans such as “Long live the Sandinista Front!” and “Free homeland or death!”

His position contrasts with the concentration of power documented in Nicaragua over recent years and with the most recent decisions taken by Ortega and Murillo.

In July, Ortega went so far as to publicly declare that there would be no more elections in Nicaragua, while the government subsequently pushed through constitutional changes providing for “renewable” seven-year presidential terms and restrictions against potential opponents.

Despite this context, Preston publicly maintains that the Nicaraguan system does not constitute a dictatorship.

Photos With Ortega and Even Images of Himself Dressed as a Police Officer

Preston’s identification with the government also has a visual dimension.

According to EL PAÍS, he has taken photographs at government events and has used artificial intelligence to create images of himself dressed in a Nicaraguan National Police uniform.

The detail is particularly sensitive given the role attributed to the police during the repression of anti-government protests that began in April 2018.

Preston, however, openly displays his sympathy for Sandinismo and presents his experience in Nicaragua from a perspective diametrically opposed to that of government opponents, exiles, and human rights organizations that denounce the country’s political situation.

He Works With a Longtime US Activist Allied With Sandinismo

In Nicaragua, Preston also became associated with S. Brian Willson, a veteran U.S. activist known for his opposition to Washington’s foreign policy in Central America.

Willson lost both legs in 1987 when he was run over by a munitions train while protesting US arms shipments to the Nicaraguan Contras.

Decades later, Rosario Murillo has publicly described him as a “living hero.”

According to EL PAÍS and Divergentes, Preston works with Willson reviewing his memoirs and other writings related to his life and anti-imperialist views.

The relationship brought Preston even closer to circles ideologically identified with the Sandinista Revolution.

His Sister, Meanwhile, Made It to the Heart of Trump’s Inner Circle

While Preston was building his new life in Nicaragua, Natalie Harp was rapidly rising within Donald Trump’s orbit.

Natalie began attracting attention in 2019 after crediting Trump’s Right to Try policy, designed to facilitate certain patients’ access to experimental treatments, with playing a decisive role in her battle with cancer.

She later participated in Republican political activities and eventually joined Trump’s team.

Her role has earned her a peculiar nickname in Washington: “the human printer.”

The reason is that she stays close to the president, providing him with printed copies of articles, posts, and other documents that Trump prefers to review on paper.

US media reports have also identified her as one of the people who help the president with posts on Truth Social.

But her importance within the president’s inner circle became particularly apparent in July.

Natalie Was Among Those Chosen to Accompany Trump

Following a NATO summit in Turkey, the US Secret Service reportedly detected a possible Iranian threat against Trump.

As a security measure, a secret switch of aircraft was arranged.

According to accounts published by US media and cited by EL PAÍS and The Independent, Natalie was among the small number of aides who accompanied Trump on the second plane.

Senior political officials, including cabinet members, remained aboard the Air Force One being used as a decoy.

The episode demonstrated just how firmly Natalie belongs to the president’s immediate circle of trust and greatly increased media interest in her personal life.

And that was when Preston entered the story.

CNN Finds the Sandinista Brother in Nicaragua

CNN journalist Erin Burnett interviewed Preston about his relationship with his sister and her extraordinary closeness to Trump.

Preston explained that Natalie had been fascinated by the White House since she was a teenager and recalled that she even wrote letters to US presidents.

In his view, becoming part of the president’s inner circle meant fulfilling an aspiration she had held for years.

“She fulfilled her dream,” Preston said, according to the interview subsequently reported by EL PAÍS and Divergentes.

But his public appearance also revealed just how far the siblings had ended up on opposite ideological poles.

Preston Doesn’t Want to Return to the United States

The distance between them is not merely political.

Preston has said that he currently has no relationship with Natalie or their mother and has shown no interest in rebuilding those ties.

In statements reported by the media outlets that have reconstructed his story, he has questioned his sister’s closeness to Trump and says he does not identify with that political circle.

Nor does he appear to have any plans to leave Nicaragua.

Preston says he has found in the country the tranquility he was seeking after years marked by family conflicts and the death of his father.

That decision has ultimately produced one of the most unusual family stories surrounding the US president’s inner circle. While Natalie Harp remains just a few steps away from Donald Trump in Washington, Preston Harp lives in Nicaragua defending Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, and the Sandinista Front.

Two siblings raised under the same roof in California thus ended up embracing opposing political projects.

And between them stands Nicaragua: the country Preston chose to rebuild his life and from which he has become an unexpected US American defender of the Ortega-Murillo regime.

First published in Spanish by 100% Noticias and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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