- The claim that U.S. President Donald Trump’s aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House for more than a year without security clearance is still under investigation.
- The rumor stems from an Aug. 19, 2026, MS NOW article that cites two unnamed sources “familiar with the matter.” The report says Harp had “declined multiple times over more than a year to seek a routine security clearance normally obtained by West Wing staffers to work at the White House.”
- Snopes could not speak directly to either person, nor get direct confirmation that Harp had taken more than a year to obtain her security clearance. For this reason, we have left the claim unrated.
- While White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via email that Harp had a security clearance, we are still awaiting a response on when she had obtained it and what the reason was behind the delay, if there was one. We will update this report if we hear more.
In August 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump’s aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House for more than a year without security clearance.
People posted the claim on Facebook and X, where one user (archived) said Harp had “declined” to obtain a security clearance, adding, “You either get one or you don’t have a job.”
Meanwhile, Snopes readers searched our website in an effort to confirm the story.
The rumor stems from an Aug. 19, 2026, MS NOW article (archived) that cites two unnamed sources “familiar with the matter.” The report says Harp had “declined multiple times over more than a year to seek a routine security clearance normally obtained by West Wing staffers to work at the White House.”
We could not speak directly to either anonymous source, nor get direct confirmation that Harp had taken more than a year to obtain her security clearance. Therefore, it was not possible to independently verify the information in MS NOW’s report. For this reason, we left the claim unrated.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via email: “Natalie Harp has a security clearance like everyone else, and she is a loyal and hardworking member of President Trump’s team.” Snopes then asked when Harp obtained the clearance. We also inquired about a reason for the delay if, as MS NOW reported, there was one. We will update this article if we receive a response.
The report also says the lack of security clearance amplified other worries about Harp. She “operates unusually close to the president and filters much of the information Trump sees on a daily basis, and that proximity has spurred frustration inside the West Wing,” the story adds, citing the two unnamed people who told MS NOW about her previous lack of security clearance and two other people who are aware of White House internal matters.
MS NOW also cites “one senior White House official familiar with the security clearance process” as saying Harp had obtained several extensions to the grace period for providing the paperwork required in a security clearance process. The form is 136 pages long.
For further reading, Snopes has covered several rumors about Harp, including the false claim that she is a hospice nurse taking care of Trump.
