Trump Appears to Eye Harp's Legs Before Calling Her a 'Perfect Person' as She Delivers Red-Dyed Diesel Order at Nebraska Rally

President Donald Trump called senior aide Natalie Harp onto the stage at a Nebraska campaign rally on Monday, 5 October, then appeared to fix his gaze on her legs as she walked away, seconds after describing her as a 'perfect person'. The moment came as he signed an executive order expanding access to tax-free red-dyed diesel, and footage of it spread quickly online.

The rally at the Nebraska State Fair's Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island was meant to boost US Sen. Pete Ricketts, Gov. Jim Pillen, and the state's Republican ticket ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. Harp, rarely far from the president's side, walked out to cheers and handed him the order. Trump signed it, threw the pen into the crowd, then patted her on the shoulder as she left.

Watching Harp exit, Trump compared the scene to a television game show. 'She reminds me of like The Price Is Right,' he said. 'This perfect person comes up, hands it, walks off. We should go on television with this show, right?' He appeared to float the idea of a reality programme built around the 30-something aide.

The clip drew attention less for the diesel policy than for the president's lingering look. 'Where's Melania?' one X user asked, a question that recurred online as the first lady has been largely absent from recent events. Others called the display inappropriate, tying it to weeks of unease over Harp's closeness to the president.

Who Is Natalie Harp?

Harp, 35, is the president's executive assistant and a former host at the conservative One America News Network. She joined Trump's campaign in 2022, two years after speaking about surviving bone cancer at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Colleagues nicknamed her the 'human printer' for trailing Trump with a portable printer, feeding him hard copies of flattering articles and posts. Her closeness has invited scrutiny, from letters she is said to have written him in 2023 to a claim in Michael Wolff's book All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America that the Secret Service had flagged her behaviour as a concern.

What the Diesel Order Does

The order temporarily waives the off-road requirement on red-dyed diesel, the lower-taxed fuel normally reserved for farm vehicles, construction equipment, and other off-road machinery. Trump said it would let anyone buy the fuel tax-free, with a typical trucker saving more than $100 (about £76) each fill-up.

Rather than scrap the tax, it defers the federal levy of 24.4 cents (about 18p) a gallon on highway use between 5 October and 31 December, pending a Treasury review. The move followed a 24 September letter from Pillen, who said diesel was averaging a record $6.21 (about £4.72) a gallon in Nebraska.

'Let Them Take Out Los Angeles'

The same speech produced a far graver moment. Defending high fuel prices as a cost of his seven-month war with Iran, Trump argued the price was worth it, then extended the point to American cities. 'It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,' he said. 'They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.' The remark, appearing to cast an Iranian strike on a US city as an acceptable trade, drew cheers.

California officials reacted with alarm. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president 'deranged and dangerous', Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Trump was threatening the country rather than protecting it, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria rejected any suggestion his city was expendable.

Trump's $5,000 Pledge

Trump also promised that if Republicans keep the House of Representatives and the Senate, he would give every adult citizen $5,000 (about £3,800), money he said must be spent at home and called a 'Trump dividend' worth $1 trillion (about £760B) in total.

He gave no timeline and did not say whether Congress would need to approve it. Monday marked the first day of early in-person voting in Nebraska, which runs through 2 November.