Part 1
Emily-Grace met Natalie Harp during a chance encounter at a super-market. Natalie was buying diapers and was struggling to put them into a large bag.
Emily-Grace did not initially recognize Natalie when she offered to help and innocently asked whether it was for a boy or girl. Natalie then unexpectantly asked Emily-Grace if she could take the diapers through check-out and Natalie would give her the money outside the store.
Once outside, Natalie continued to appear nervous and when she saw a woman approaching she quickly asked Emily-Grace if she would like coffee in the nearby shop. Emily-Grace was concerned about Natalie and in the shop asked if her life was OK. “Its great”, replied Natalie, “but I just don’t want to be seen”.
Just then, Natalie’s phone rang. “Yes”, she answered and listened for what seemed several minutes as a smile on her face turned into a look of almost ecstasy. “You really mean it? Oh, Donny I am so happy!”
The voice on the phone was quite loud and Emily-Grace thought it familiar. It was only when the call ended and Natalie excitedly exclaimed “I will be vice-president” that Emily-Grace connected the word “president” to the voice. It was that of Donald Trump!
“Congratulations”, said Emily-Grace. “This is a golf-club or ….?” “No, no”, said Natalie. “Vice-president of the United States of America”.
Emily-Grace looked at Natalie for a few second not knowing what to say. She had now realized who Natalie was and said: “Of course we are in America and anything is possible. Are you going into politics? Try for Congress after Donald Trump leaves office?”
“No. I will be JD Vance’s running mate in 2028. But I should not have told you this. You could be a journalist.” “I am a journalist”, replied Emily-Grace, “but I will not tell anyone”. Natalie was now quite flustered. “I would appreciate that. Where do you work now? Maybe you could come to work with me at the White House?”
Emily-Grace wondered if Natalie really believed what she was saying. The name Elizabeth Holmes jumped into her mind. Natalie could see that Emily-Grace was sceptical. “You would love working with me and the president”, she said. Susie Wiles will be leaving after the mid-term elections and I will become Chief-of Staff. I already manage many of the President’s things. After about year I will be made Secretary of State and then JD’s running mate for the election.
Emily-Grace could only nod. “So, its agreed”, said Natalie. “I will be so nice to have a friend in the White House. I sometimes think that only Donny likes me”.
“What if you and JD Vance do not win the election?” asked Emily-Grace. “Of course we will”, Natalie replied. “But if we did not you could still work with me. Donny and I will be doing many exciting things together. And he will still have his new airplane!”
As Emily-Grace tried to find words to respond her eyes passed over the large bag with the diapers inside. “How is the President’s health?” she asked. Natalie suddenly seemed a little less up-beat. “He is fine. Incredibly energetic! Always working. He thinks of everything.”
Natalie’s phone rang and she looked out through the window of the café. “My transport has arrived!” Emily-Grace looked out the window and saw a large black van with a man in a suit standing next to it.
“Secret Service. Starting now I have them protect me.” Natalie stood up and then sat down. “I forgot to give you my telephone number. And what is your name?” After this information was exchanged Natalie left the café, waving back at Emily-Grace as she got into the black van.
Emily-Grace’s experience as a young journalist had mainly had some connection to legal court cases and her interest in politics was cursory. However, her aunty Dawn thought that this should change and had invited her to spend time living with her in Washington DC. Emily-Grace was intrigued by her meeting with Natalie and spent the following morning looking at videos and reports about Natalie.
Convinced that she had really met Natalie Harp, she told her aunty about the meeting. Her aunty Dawn was incredulous but urged Emily-Grace to follow up and send Natalie a text message. Natalie replied in less than an hour and invited Emily-Grace to come to the White House the next day. “You will come as a visitor and friend of mine so do not say anything about our conversation yesterday.”
An aide met Emily-Grace at the entrance to the White House and took her to a room to wait for Natalie. It was well over an hour before Natalie appeared. She explained that she only had a few minutes “because the President needed” her to accompany him “on a small visit” but she could show Emily-Grace the Oval Office.
As they walked down a corridor they passed a small older white-haired woman who seemed to give Natalie a disapproving look. “That’s Suzie Wiles”, said Natalie, and then added with a broad smile. “She will be leaving soon.”
“I sit here”, she said, pointing to her desk just outside the Oval Office. As they left Donald Trump suddenly appeared. Natalie introduced Emily-Grace to him, saying that she was “a friend who would make a great assistant for me”.
Trump smiled and nodded before telling Natalie to “come with me. I need something urgently”. Emily-Grace was left alone until an aide who had seen what happened led her out of the White House.
A couple of hours later Emily-Grace received a text message from Natalie. “The President has agreed for you to work with me. But it seems you will need a security clearance. Someone will contact you. Natalie.”
When she was again at the White House Emily-Grace was led to an office to be shared with three other people and was given a new “secure telephone” to only use in her communication with Natalie. She tried to have conversation with the other people in the room but was essentially ignored and did not get any idea about what their roles were.
Natalie was very busy and apart from briefly dropping into the office on the first day to greet her Emily-Grace was left alone for the remainder of the day. The next morning she received a text from Natalie: “I need some information quickly. Could you do some research on wigs for men. The president may need to use one occasionally.” Emily-Grace spent the next hour or so looking at hair-piece photos and details on the internet before Natalie appeared and motioned her into the corridor and saying: “He doesn’t like the idea of a wig. But, he wants me to give a speech on how good he as been for women. I mean while he has been president.”
“Well, he was the first president to appoint a female chief-of-staff”, suggested Emily-Grace. Natalie replied with a slightly sharp tone: “No, no. We don’t want anything about her.” Natalie thought for a moment: “Maybe something about the Queen?” “You mean the British Queen?”, asked Emily-Grace. “Yes, she told him how great he was.”
Emily-Grace could not see how Trump had helped the Queen and asked her aunty Dawn for any ideas. Dawn thought for a moment and then said: “I was watching a You-tube report on how the government in Iran is less strict on women covering the hair with scarves – hijab, I think -- since the war began. Maybe Natalie could say this?” Dawn laughed. “Totally stupid thing to say but Trump would love it.” She then added: “I helped the President design policies that have halted illegal immigration and prevented tens of thousands of young women and girls being raped.”
Natalie was happy with these suggestions, but also wanted to add something about her own leadership abilities: “When I met the Japanese prime minister she asked me about a few international issues. I cannot talk about these here, but she mentioned female leaders in history and said I was a real Joan of Arc."
Emily-Grace decided that she should try to be in the office when ever Natalie might need her so she asked Natalie about how late she worked. Natalie was unusually evasive about this issue when Emily-Grace suggested “a drink after work”.
“Emily-Grace, there is no after work”, Natalie eventually said. “My life is here. All day. All night.” “But you must sleep?” asked Emily-Grace. Natalie leaned forward. “Donny lets me sleep in Melania’s bedroom. She is never here.”
Emily-Grace was unsure how to respond to this information. She suddenly understood how it was that Trump often posted on his Truth Social site late at night. Natalie was at his side. But, what was happening after that? Emily-Grace decided that she would not ask any more questions about Natalie’s life. Nor would she ask about the diapers.
Neither Emily-Grace nor her aunt Dawn had much in common with Donald Trump’s view of the world and were shocked at some of his pronouncements but Emily-Grace liked Natalie a lot. And Dawn was adamant that she should stick to the job. “Do as you are told, work hard. This will pay-off eventually”.
Part 2 .. to be continued!