Jon Ossoff’s 2028 chances as he takes aim at Trump aide Natalie Harp

Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking reelection this November in one of the nation's most closely watched Senate races, has also drawn speculation as a potential Democratic contender in the 2028 presidential election.

During a recent Senate campaign speech, Ossoff criticized President Donald Trump over his policy priorities and specifically referenced Natalie Harp's close role in the president's orbit. Following those comments, prediction markets have shifted Ossoff's standing among potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominees, with some markets showing his standing has slipped while others show it has risen after his comments.

Ossoff has repeatedly dismissed speculation about a 2028 presidential run, saying his focus remains on Georgia's Senate race and the upcoming midterm elections.

Newsweek has reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment via email on Tuesday.

Prediction market Kalshi gave Ossoff a 14 percent chance of securing the Democratic presidential nomination early on the morning of August 16, the same day he made the remarks. By Tuesday afternoon, those odds had risen to 16 percent.

On Polymarket, however, Ossoff’s odds have slightly slipped since his comments. The market put his odds at securing the Democratic nomination on August 16 morning at 14.8 percent. As of Tuesday afternoon, the market puts his odds at 14 percent.

Both markets put him behind Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and Polymarket finds him behind California Governor Gavin Newsom, while Kalshi finds the two politicians tied.

With no major Democrat yet publicly entering the 2028 presidential race, attention remains centered on the November midterms, including Ossoff's closely watched reelection bid in Georgia, as both parties battle for control of the Senate.

Ossoff has acknowledged that his reelection bid remains competitive, even as he has amassed a substantial campaign war chest. Ossoff reported about $42 million cash on hand, nearly 20 times the amount reported by his opponent, Republican Mike Collins, according to a recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing in July.

On Monday, he told MS Now's Jen Psaki, “I have zero interest in running for president in 2028, and frankly zero interest in the 2028 fantasy football right now.”

“These midterms are the whole ballgame,” Ossoff said, adding, “I don't know that we have a free and fair election in 2028 unless we restore checks and balances in these 2026 midterm elections. This needs to be all of our highest priority and focus.”

Ossoff made similar remarks in April, when he told MS NOW's The Briefing that he had "zero interest" in a 2028 presidential campaign. "I love serving the state of Georgia. I've got two young daughters," he said.

Ossoff singled out Harp by name at a campaign rally on Sunday, accusing Trump of preferring to "travel with Natalie" instead of doing his job.

He told the Atlanta crowd, "While the sailors on the [U.S.S Abraham] Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings.

"He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn't want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie [Harp] on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar,” he told the audience about Trump, which erupted into applause. Top aides often travel with the president.

A clip of Ossoff's speech had been viewed more than 6 million times as of Tuesday. Some Democrats have pushed for more visibility on the matter, while some Republicans, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, wrote in part in an X post, "Jon Ossoff owes Natalie Harp a personal apology for having smeared her. If a conservative Republican had attacked a liberal Democrat working professional woman the way Ossoff smeared Natalie Harp there would be cries to kick them off the ticket and reject this kind of misogynistic language diminishing and smearing someone who is simply doing their job."

Members of the administration have responded to Ossoff's comments by speaking about Harp's character, such as Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who said on X Monday, "Natalie Harp is an incredibly hardworking, talented, principled, and loyal member of the Trump Admin who passionately wants to help our nation thrive. Every day, she brings drive and focus to her work serving our country. She’s truly a phenomenal member of POTUS’ team."

Asked Monday by MS Now's Jen Psaki why the Georgia Senator mentioned Harp specifically, Ossoff said he had heard the aide described as Trump's "security blanket" and argued that senior staff is “not telling him [Trump] what he needs to hear. They're telling him what he wants to hear, and the nation is at war, and we cannot afford that."

He went on, “And the president, surrounded by enablers in the West Wing, is playing golf, is trading stock and is decorating his ballroom. It's a disgrace, all while American families in Georgia and across the country pay more for just about everything as a direct result of his failed economic policy and his failed foreign policy."

In a statement shared with Newsweek for a related story, White House spokesman Davis Ingle criticized Ossoff's record and rhetoric.

“Jon Ossoff is a feminine theater kid who voted to massively raise taxes, give illegal immigrants free taxpayer-funded healthcare, and defund federal immigration enforcement and Border Patrol. Lightweight Jon’s rhetoric is cringeworthy, but his extreme voting record is dangerous,” he said.

Trump has been asked about the remarks. On Monday, he dismissed Ossoff as a “Pee-wee Herman" lookalike and did not directly address the substance of the comment, instead pivoting to defend his White House ballroom construction project as a security and infrastructure upgrade while speaking in the Oval Office.

CNN correspondent Kristen Holmes asked Trump in the Oval Office to respond to Ossoff's remarks, to which the president repeatedly told her to be quiet and called her "a fake reporter."

Hours later, the official White House Rapid Response account posted on X that Holmes' children would one day be "sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive,” drawing condemnation from journalists and former Trump aides, including Sarah Matthews, a deputy White House press secretary during Trump's first term.

On Monday, Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, reposted a clip of Ossoff's remarks on X and wrote, "Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics. Instead of denigrating hard working people serving their country, Jon should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he's a miserable person who hates this country. It's because he's a radical, extremist Dumocrat."

Harp, 35, first came to Trump's attention in 2019, when she credited a federal right-to-try law he signed with giving her access to experimental treatment for stage 2 bone cancer. He invited her to join his 2020 campaign advisory board and to speak at that year's Republican National Convention.

She worked as a presenter for One America News Network from 2020 to 2022 before joining Trump's 2024 campaign. She had earned her MBA from Liberty University in 2015.

During the campaign, Harp earned the nickname "human printer" for carrying a portable printer so she could hand Trump paper copies of news articles, a habit that grew out of his preference for reading news on paper rather than a screen. She has also posted to Trump's Truth Social account on his behalf, a role that has continued since he named her executive assistant to the president in January 2025.

Harp's father, an estate agent who founded a consultancy for travel companies, died by suicide in 2020. After his death, she and her brother became estranged, the latter said.

Multiple outlets, including The New York Times, have reported concerns about Harp's relationship with Trump. The Secret Service reportedly came to view her as a security consideration, while aides, including incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles, were reportedly unsettled by her access, according to the new book Regime Change, by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

Sarah Matthews, a deputy White House press secretary during Trump's first term, echoed those reports Monday, saying it was fair to point out that Harp's closeness to Trump had “alarmed” the Secret Service. Harp was also one of three aides, along with Dan Scavino and Walt Nauta, who accompanied Trump on a decoy military flight out of Turkey last month amid a reported security threat.

The latest poll from Focaldata and the Financial Times showed Vice President Kamala Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with the most significant share of votes.

It found Harris in the lead with 30 percent, followed by Newsom at 14 percent, Buttigieg at 10 percent and Ocasio-Cortez at 8 percent. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro followed at 6 percent, while Ossoff and Senator Mark Kelly each received 5 percent in the poll, which surveyed 2,152 adults August 7-11.

An Emerson College Poll last month showed Buttigieg with 19 percent and Newsom with 17 percent. Ossoff had 13 percent, Ocasio-Cortez had 13 percent, Harris had 8 percent, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had 7 percent, Governor Josh Shapiro landed 5 percent, and 13 percent were undecided. The poll was conducted from July 19 to July 20, 2026, among 574 respondents and had a margin of error of 4 percent.