All the President’s Women. A catalogue of King Don’s favourites and those he has cast aside

And now along comes King Don’s very special assistant – his shadow, his ghostwriter, his social media watchdog, his carer, or what else? Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old, sharp-tongued blonde who is a constant presence at the White House and Mar-a-Lago; she was with him when Trump fled into a shipping container at Ankara airport for fear of an attack, leaving both J.D. Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Air Force One as potential targets. The American media pounced on the story: amid the gossip and speculation, the merry-go-round of favourites and outcasts seemed like a vaudeville act from a bygone era, but it is now taking a different turn – a truly ugly one. When the newly re-elected president presented his new White House staff and cabinet nominees in January 2025, everyone noticed how many women – some very young and attractive – he had chosen to grace his new administration. On the right, trumpets blared: so much for feminism; it is the conservatives who are promoting the ‘second sex’ in politics. On the left, they seethed – as Giorgia Meloni would say – and some even recalled ‘Gaddafi’s Amazons’. On the right, they invoked Margaret Thatcher; on the left, they mocked the plasticised fake blondes with puns such as ‘Pam Biondi’ instead of ‘Bondi’. All manner of things have been said and written about Donald’s relationship with women: his wives and lovers, mostly attractive models from Eastern Europe; the ‘machismo’ hidden behind a baby-faced appearance; the billion-dollar divorces; money, power and Barbies as trophies have filled the pages of the tabloids for decades, first in the Big Apple and then across much of the world. However, given Trump’s contempt for ‘gender quotas’, there is no doubt that the arrival of so many women at the helm of the world’s most powerful government would have taken the heroic progressive fervour by surprise.

However, within a few months, almost all of them were dismissed, often without so much as a thank you. Kristi Noem left the court on 5 March, followed in turn by Pam Bondi, Wendy Noble, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Tulsi Gabbard, Maggie Dougherty, Jeanine Pirro, and finally Karoline Levitt on 12 August. Chosen primarily for their loyalty, very few remain. Apart from the family trio – the icy First Lady Melanija Knavs, the favourite Ivanka, now well into her forties and daughter of Ivana Zelnícková, and Tiffany, born in 1993 and raised in California by her mother Marla Maples – Susie Wiles stands out, considered the most powerful woman in Washington by both admirers and detractors, as Chief of Staff, the first woman ever in US history to hold that role. Then there is the great fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke, who raises millions and millions of dollars for the royal coffers; Linda McMahon, a close friend of Trump’s, with a career in wrestling and now Secretary of Education; Jeanine Pirro, a judge, politician and television presenter (‘Justice’ on Fox News), appointed judge for the District of Columbia – that is, the capital – to keep opponents in check one way or another. And above all, there is Natalie Harp, weaving a web of suspicion, spite and revenge. ‘The king is enjoying himself,’ Victor Hugo might have written. Perhaps, but what will happen when even Triboulet has grown tiresome to him?

It was his father who first called him ‘king’. ‘You’re King Donald,’ Fred – the son of German immigrants who’d made his fortune by elbowing his way to the top in the American way – kept repeating to him, adding: ‘You’ve got to become a killer’. A king has courtiers and courtesans. A ‘killer’ king wipes them out at will. Without wishing to play at being a amateur psychoanalyst, behind Donald Trump’s behaviour one can glimpse the teachings of that strict Teutonic parent who made his fortune from social housing in Queens, the New York borough with two and a half million inhabitants, where Italians ruled the roost. In reality, the one chosen to wear the ermine cloak was supposed to be Fred Junior. He had brought him up to be ‘invulnerable’, says his daughter Mary L. Trump, but he was quite the opposite. Step by step, his personality was torn to shreds and in 1981, by then an alcoholic, he died at the age of just 42.

Everyone lived under the iron fist of the father-master, who ruled with determination, including his wife, who was called to account every evening: she had to recount in minute detail whether or not the children (the eldest daughter Maryanne, who would go on to become a judge, Fred Jr., Elizabeth, Donald and Robert) had followed the instructions (or rather, the orders) received that morning. “I had a wonderful mother,” said the future president when she died in 2000 at the age of 88. However, both his father and he had always taken care to ensure that the truth about an uncertain and tumultuous past did not come to light. Born in Scotland – or rather, in the Hebrides, on the cold, desperately poor Isle of Lewis, battered by the Atlantic – at the age of 17, Mary Anne McLeod set sail in 1924 for New York, where her sister Christina had already emigrated; four years earlier, Christina had given birth to a child without a father. Mary Anne (as she signed her name) also went to live on Long Island and took on any odd job she could find to scrape by. In 1930 she returned to Scotland, only to turn up in New York four years later with a re-entry permit. She would not be naturalised as an American until 1942. In short, was she an illegal immigrant for almost twenty years? Today, the secret police – the infamous ICE – would have arrested her brutally, and her son would have been denied the right of birthright citizenship. When she met Fred, she was still technically an undocumented immigrant. The official version has it as having happened at a party in 1930, but the dates are a bit unclear here, and it is unlikely that a cleaner would have attended an event hosted by a wealthy property developer. What is certain is that they married in 1936. The following year, their first daughter was born, but this was still not enough to secure citizenship. A story like so many others, long hidden, if not outright denied, until it came to light through a scathing investigation by The Nation, the oldest American magazine founded in 1865, in a report entitled “The Mysterious Mary Trump”. Why delve into the family’s inner workings? We’ll leave the answer to Dr Freud’s followers and take a look at the menagerie in the White House, starting with the dismissals in chronological order.

Kristi Arnold, married name Noem, Governor of South Dakota, had been chosen to head the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for border control, immigration, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and natural disasters. Born in 1971 into a farming family, she has four children, is a climate change denier and, during the pandemic, refused to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. As governor, she distinguished herself for her anti-immigration stance, refusing to accept Afghan refugees in 2021 and deploying the South Dakota National Guard to Texas to patrol the border with Mexico – a move proudly recalled by Trump. She has been ostracised by all nine Indigenous tribes in her state for comments suggesting that tribal leaders were more concerned with profiting from drug cartels than with their own children. She spoke of the many families who had approached her because illegal immigrants had harmed their loved ones: among them are “murderers, rapists and terrorists”, but this will now come to an end – Noem said on the day of her victory – because Trump truly wants to “make this country safer”. Yet loyalty matters more than ideology. Noem supported Trump without hesitation or wavering, and often travelled with him to back him up at events and rallies. Yet this was not enough, and so her dismissal signalled the start of the purges. In honouring her, Trump publicly praised Noem for her “extraordinary achievements at the border” and appointed her “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas”, a diplomatic role focused on security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, announced during an event in Doral, Florida. The president replaced her with Markwayne Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, a former wrestler known for his anti-immigration views and his absolute loyalty to the president.

Pam Bondi was sacked on 1 April, but this is no April Fool’s joke. She had been appointed to the Department of Justice following the resignation of former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (sex scandals and allegations of drug abuse, combined with underlying opposition from the more moderate wing of the Republican Party, had forced him to step down). A former Florida Attorney General, an opponent of Obamacare, opposed to same-sex marriage, aligned with the populist right since 2016 and part of Trump’s defence team to fend off impeachment in the Senate in 2020, Bondi, aged 60, appeared alongside Trump during the campaign in the days leading up to his election victory. “For too long, the Department of Justice has been used by one political side as a weapon against me and other Republicans. That will not happen again. Pam will refocus the department, bringing it back to its purpose, which is to fight crime and make America safe again,” said the newly re-elected president. “I’ve known Pam for many years,” he added. “She’s intelligent and tenacious, and she’s an ‘America First’ fighter; she’ll do a fantastic job.” A lawyer, lobbyist and politician who has been a Trump supporter since 2016, she served on the Commission on Drug Abuse and Opioids during the first administration. Bondi was dismissed with characteristic brutality. Trump discusses the matter with his trusted aides, then speaks to her directly. A conversation described as ‘tough’. A dignified exit had been envisaged, but instead The Donald informs her of the final decision in the car in which he is travelling – the first US president in history to do so – to attend the Supreme Court hearing on the constitutionality of the executive order he signed to abolish the right of birthright citizenship. “I think the time has come, Pam,” he reportedly told her during the journey, in true Apprentice style; this was reported by the Wall Street Journal and has never been denied. Then, within a few hours, after the news had already been leaked, the sacking was announced on social media. Replacing her is Todd Blanche, the president’s personal lawyer. Bondi tried to hold out until the very end, but realised it was over when she read the lukewarm statement in which the president responded to the New York Times’ revelations about tensions at the top. “Pam is a wonderful person and is doing a good job,” he wrote on Truth. The insidious choice of that adjective, “good” – when he uses “great” for every one of his aides – was the final straw. Bondi pays the price for her handling of the Epstein files, as she was unable to keep thousands of files involving the president under wraps; added to this is the failure of the investigations Trump had called for against his enemies, which were dismissed by grand juries. The staunchly loyal aide went to great lengths to meet the unrealistic demands for judicial revenge against opponents, but without achieving the results the president demanded.

Wendy Noble, who was dismissed on 4 April alongside her boss Timothy Haugh, Director of the National Security Agency and head of Cyber Command, has fallen victim to another dreadful woman: the far-right activist Laura Loomer. Born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1993 to a Jewish family, a ‘proud Islamophobe’ and supporter of ‘white nationalism’, a staunch Republican and expert in tricks for spotting rumours and disinformation, Loomer, according to the New York Times, is said to have called for Haugh’s head during a meeting with the president in the Oval Office. Subsequently, Trump is said to have ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to remove the Air Force general and his deputy Noble, alongside a wave of dismissals that has shaken the entire NSA to its core. “New leadership is needed” is the official explanation. Just how effective this is can be seen in the case of Iran.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Labour, resigned on 20 April. Following weeks of speculation about the Secretary’s fate, having found herself at the centre of a series of scandals, the White House has issued an official announcement. Chavez-DeRemer “will be leaving the administration to take up a role in the private sector”, wrote communications chief Steve Cheung in a post, emphasising that the Secretary “has done a phenomenal job protecting American workers”. The trouble began earlier this month with a series of internal investigations into “inappropriate behaviour”, including an alleged extramarital affair with a member of the security team. Chavez-DeRemer was accused of creating a toxic working environment, of using public funds for personal travel and of consuming alcohol in the office. Furthermore, her husband Shawn DeRemer, an anaesthetist and a regular visitor to the department, was barred from the premises following allegations of sexual harassment against several female staff members.

Tulsi Gabbard has left a void at the top of the intelligence services. Born in 1981 in Samoa, she grew up in Hawaii, which she represented as a Democratic member of Congress. A reserve lieutenant-colonel with service in Iraq, she moved to the right until she became a MAGA star. Her views have caused quite a stir. Gabbard said that the war in Ukraine could have been avoided if only the United States and its allies had recognised Russia’s security concerns regarding Ukraine’s desire to join NATO as legitimate. She claimed that the existence of US-funded biolaboratories in Ukraine was an ‘undeniable fact’, and that these could have ‘released and spread deadly pathogens’. Years ago, she defended Bashar al-Assad, arguing that he “was not a direct threat” to America, and also said she did not believe he had used chemical weapons against his own people. She later changed her mind, describing him as a brutal dictator. “But sympathising with Putin and Assad is no longer a problem for a senior US government official, even if she oversees the work of all the intelligence agencies,” wrote *The Atlantic*. Tulsi Gabbard formally submitted her resignation to the President on 22 May. Fox News obtained an exclusive copy of the letter, in which she states that she is “deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the office over the past year and a half”. The official reason given is the need to support her husband in his battle against “an extremely rare form of bone cancer”. She informed the President during a meeting in the Oval Office and left her post on 30 June. Sources at Reuters told the agency that she had been forced to resign. Sceptical of US involvement in foreign wars, Gabbard had been excluded from the planning of the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro. Her closest adviser, Joe Kent, had resigned by posting a letter in which he criticised Israel for deceiving Donald Trump and leading him to believe that the Iranian regime posed an imminent threat. “Tehran is not enriching uranium,” Tulsi Gabbard wrote in black and white, and during the Senate hearing last March, she played down the president’s triumphalism: “The Iranian government remains intact, albeit significantly weakened.” These statements sparked a storm in Washington, leaving the Director of National Intelligence with her back against the wall.

Karoline Leavitt’s appointment as White House spokesperson was perhaps the most unusual choice. At 28, she was the youngest person ever to hold this role. Originally from New Hampshire, where she grew up in a devoutly Catholic family, she already has some political experience despite her young age. Having recently graduated from Saint Anselm College, Karoline began working in communications, joining the first Trump administration as an assistant to spokesperson McEnany. Following Trump’s defeat in 2020 by Joe Biden, she was hired by MP Elise Stefanik, who has since been appointed ambassador to the UN. In 2022, she also stood for election to the House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s first constituency, but was defeated by the Democrat Chris Pappas. “Karoline is intelligent, tenacious and has proven herself to be a very effective communicator,” Trump said in a statement. “I have every confidence that she will excel and help us get our message across to the American people as we make America great again.” Few had believed him, partly because he had gone through four press secretaries during his first four years in office. Speaking to journalists in a tone that was somewhere between joking and sly, Trump had repeatedly complained about how badly he was treated by the media. “Perhaps Karoline is doing a poor job, I don’t know,” he said, addressing her – who was standing just a few metres away – “you’re doing a terrible job. Should we keep her on? We’ll keep her on, but I get between 93 and 97 per cent bad press, fake press, all fake.” On 7 May, her second daughter, Viviana, was born to her husband Nicholas Riccio, a property developer 32 years her senior. She returned to the briefing room after a couple of months, on 16 July. On 12 August, she left. “She’ll be able to devote herself to her children,” commented The Donald. “You’re fired”, just like in the TV programme that cleared his personal and business record. The day before, Karoline had been left behind with the hated journalists whilst the president fled at breakneck speed alongside Natalie. A bitter pill even for her to swallow. The king protects himself with a cordon of loyalty and dependence, but no one is safe.

Linda McMahon is holding her ground as head of the Department of Education. After all, she is a fighter – and not just in a figurative sense: for years she was an executive at a professional wrestling organisation. A close friend of Trump’s and a long-standing supporter of his political career, McMahon was among his earliest financial backers for his 2016 election victory. At 76, she has no training in teaching nor any professional experience in managing education policy, apart from a 2009 appointment to the Connecticut State Board of Education, where she served for just over a year. She faces “the daunting task of carrying out what is widely anticipated: a complete and determined dismantling of the department’s core functions”, wrote the New York Times. And the mission is not yet complete.

Meredith O’Rourke is the fundraising chief, and for the time being, absolutely untouchable. A fundraising professional, she has been with Trump since 2016. Every night, the president rings her in Florida to take stock of the fundraising situation, reports the Wall Street Journal. He asks her which companies and private donors have written cheques and which have not. She makes the calls; all she has to say is: ‘The boss needs you’, before making increasingly exorbitant demands – asking some for 5 million and others for 50. Trump gives her the names to contact, including people he has met recently, and calls her the ‘princess of darkness’ because she is such a ‘killer’ when it comes to those who don’t pay. SoftBank, the Japanese bank specialising in high-tech, wrote a cheque for 50 million dollars; Apple contributed 25 million for the White House ballroom project; Microsoft 10 million; and Amazon just 5 million. Meta, on the other hand, donated 10 million for the ballroom and 22 million for the presidential library. Since January 2025, she has raised 800 million – a tidy sum – but “the boss” demands meticulous, personal oversight of the cash flow and keeps a precise record of who is being tight-fisted.

Susie Wiles (born in 1957 in New Jersey) has truly shattered the glass ceiling at the White House, where no woman had ever before become the President’s right-hand woman. Unlike other favourites, she is a woman who knows her own mind and boasts a long, solid career in the corridors of political power. They call her ‘Ice Baby’, because she has a reputation as an ‘ice queen’. Now approaching her 70th birthday, she has had a long career in politics as a lobbyist, assistant and all-rounder. She began in 1979 working for Jack Kemp, the former American football champion (like Pat Summerall, Susie’s father), who, running on a ticket with Dole, sought to become vice-president but was defeated in 1996 by the Clinton–Gore ticket. Susie has all the hallmarks of the Grand Old Party, starting with a stint on Ronald Reagan’s election campaign in 1980. She navigated her way brilliantly amongst mayors of Jacksonville and governors of Utah, until she was struck by lightning on the path to Trump. She had rescued Ron DeSantis’s struggling campaign for the governorship of Florida in 2018, but when DeSantis himself challenged Trump in the race for the White House, Susie switched sides. Having become the driving force behind the political action committee, Wiles is “the real boss of Trumpworld” according to Politico. Today, she is said to be the most powerful woman in Washington, the true architect of Trump’s resurrection from the ashes of the storming of the Capitol on that fateful 6 January 2021, when Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” ended up in the rubbish bins of the Capitol, ravaged by MAGA fanatics. “She’s a tough cookie; she’s brilliant, innovative, and universally admired and respected,” Trump now says. She skilfully maintains relations both with the Republican establishment – or what remains of it – and with the MAGA world. Meanwhile, a new star is rising.

Natalie Harp is in a privileged position. She is one of the select few with direct access to the president, earning $150,000 a year – a considerable sum for a young assistant. She collects all the articles about her boss and prints them out using a portable printer, but she also writes the president’s posts, which she then submits to Trump. She is a constant presence, following him everywhere, always on the ball and always in contact with Laura Loomer. Is she the one behind the absurd posts on Truth; perhaps even behind the sackings? Raised in California in a conservative Christian family, Harp owes her life to him, or so she claims: diagnosed with bone cancer in 2019, she was reportedly saved thanks to experimental drugs authorised by legislation passed during Trump’s first term. “You’re all that matters to me,” Natalie is said to have written in a message, and he claims she’s the only one who loves him – apart from his children and his wife, who has once again retreated into her golden shadow. Meanwhile, the German diet has also arrived at the White House: sauerkraut for breakfast – apparently it helps you lose weight. Everyone’s tucking into sauerkraut, except Donald, for whom burgers and Coke are never in short supply. The king is enjoying himself, whilst it lasts.