Barron Trump, Donald and Melania's son: Info about schools, when he had COVID, sibling support
Barron Trump, the only son of Donald and Melania Trump, is old enough to vote for his father in November. Will his family return to the White House?
Currently, the former first son is preparing for fall 2024 classes at an unnamed university, as of Wednesday, July 24. Former president Donald Trump confirmed earlier this month at a rally in Doral, Florida, that college is the next step but did not specify where: "He's now going to college, got into every college he wanted to," Trump said. "He made his choice and he is a very good guy."
Barron Trump was the only immediate Trump family member who did not attend the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee a week ago, when his father formally accepted the Republican nomination. His mother, former first lady Melania Trump, made a surprise appearance and sat in the Trump family box. Four years ago, Melania, Barron and the Trump family (including his half-siblings) attended the 2020 RNC at the White House.
Barron Trump turned 18 on March 20, 2024, and as a minor throughout his father's public life in television, business and politics, he has been kept out of the spotlight and media headlines.
Below are things to know about Barron Trump and a look back at his childhood in Florida, New York and the White House.
Barron Trump is only son of Donald and Melania Trump. How did they meet? When did Donald and Melania Trump get married?
Then Melania Knauss (Melania Knauss was a name change and her original name is Melanija Knavs), the Slovenian "began modeling at age 16, and two years later she signed on with an agency in Milan. She enrolled at the University of Ljubljana but dropped out after one year to pursue her modeling career," according to the Melania Trump bio on biography.com. In her early days of modeling, the site states, Melania Trump worked in Milan and Paris before moving to New York in 1996. She met future husband Donald Trump two years later at a New York fashion party.
Melania often appeared on “The Apprentice” with Donald Trump when he was host of the reality TV show on NBC. She also accompanied Trump to lavish parties at his private club, Mar-a-Lago. Melania Knauss appeared on the covers of Harper's Bazaar (Bulgaria edition), Vanity Fair (Italy edition), GQ (for which she posed nude in January 2000), and she appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
The Trumps became engaged in 2004 and married Jan. 25, 2005, in Palm Beach.
Barron Trump was born March 20, 2006, in Manhattan.
Photos: Barron Trump's life in Florida, New York and the White House
Where did Barron Trump grow up? How long did Barron Trump live in the White House? Where did Barron Trump go to school?
Barron Trump spent much of his childhood at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, and at Donald Trump’s private estate, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Over the years, Barron Trump attended events at Mar-a-Lago, specifically his parents’ lavish, star-studded New Year’s Eve parties (see photo gallery above).
When Donald Trump moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as president in 2017, Melania and Barron, for a while, stayed in New York so Barron could finish up his school year. He attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan. Barron and Melania Trump remained in New York for the first five months of the Trump administration.
After that, Barron Trump then attended school closer to Washington, D.C., at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, about 14 miles from the White House.
During his term as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump, Melania and Barron stayed at Mar-a-Lago during Palm Beach's "social season," roughly from October through April. It became known as the Winter White House or the Southern White House. While Trump used his New York City address as his main residency for years, he made Mar-a-Lago his primary residency in 2019.
Barron Trump got some attention during his father's presidency, mainly because he was the first son of a president to live in the White House since JFK Jr. Barron Trump has been kept out of the limelight, mainly, it's been reported, because of Melania's protective nature.
Though it was different eras, Barron Trump and John F. Kennedy Jr. were the only boys in the past century who spent part of their childhood in the White House.
Is Barron Trump close to his siblings, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump?
Though there is an age difference, Barron Trump seems close to his half-siblings. Over the years, Donald Trump’s children have been active in his presidency and campaigns.
Donald Trump Jr., born to Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana Trump, is 28 years older than Barron Trump.
Ivanka Trump, born to Donald and Ivana Trump, is 24 years older than Barron Trump.
Eric Trump, born to Donald and Ivana Trump, is 22 years older than Barron Trump.
Tiffany Trump, born to Donald Trump and his second wife, Marla Maples, is 13 years older than Barron Trump.
After Donald Trump relocated with Melania and Barron to Palm Beach, Florida, in 2019, his adult children and their families followed suit.
Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancé, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, purchased a $9.7 million seven-bedroom, 12-bath home in Jupiter, Florida, in March 2021. The celebrity couple live in Admirals Cove, an exclusive gated community about 20 miles north of Mar-a-Lago.
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner call Billionaire Bunker home. In 2020, the couple reportedly paid $32 million for an empty waterfront lot on the island from singer Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias' father, according to Business Insider. The proper name for Billionaire Bunker, a private island near Miami Beach, Florida, is Indian Creek Village. It’s about two hours south of West Palm Beach.
Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump, and his wife, Lara Trump, moved to Jupiter, Florida, in May 2021 from Westchester, New York. The couple bought a $3.2 million home in the gated community of Trump National Golf Club.
News reports show Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of Donald Trump and second wife Marla Maples, and her husband, billionaire Michael Boulos, have lived in Miami since Tiffany Trump graduated from Georgetown University in 2020.
Has Barron Trump ever had COVID-19? When was Donald Trump hospitalized for coronavirus?
As a minor throughout his father's public life in television, business and politics, Barron Trump has been largely kept out of the spotlight and media headlines.
But there have been exceptions.
Over the years, Barron Trump has been part of high-profile events such as his father’s inauguration in 2017, picking out the White House Christmas tree later that year with his mother or attending the 2020 Republican National Convention in August 2020 with the entire family at the White House.
But after an event at the White House on Sept. 26, 2020, for the former president's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court justice, news reports show eight to 11 people tested positive days later for COVID-19, in addition to the former first family.
It was the first week of October 2020, just over a month before the 2020 presidential election.
On Oct. 2, 2020, then-President Donald Trump was hospitalized for COVID-19 after he and Melania Trump tested positive. Ivanka Trump, then senior adviser, and her husband Jared Kushner had attended the unveiling of Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court — but both had tested negative for the virus along with Barron Trump. Donald Trump was hospitalized for three days.
Then, according to an Oct. 14, 2020, story in USA TODAY, Melania Trump said that after an initial negative test, the 14-year-old Barron Trump tested positive for COVID-19: “Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms. In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together. He has since tested negative."
Where did Barron Trump graduate from high school? Did he play sports in school?
After his father left the White House, Barron Trump attended Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, a college-preparatory school for grades 6-12, where annual tuition is a reported $41,500.
It's not clear whether Barron played any varsity sports at Oxbridge Academy since he wasn’t listed on any rosters, but he loves soccer, according to his father and various reports. According to Bleacher Report, when Barron was 11 in 2017, he played for the D.C. United U-12 soccer team. He was a midfielder wearing No. 81.
Barron Trump's graduation was a hot topic for news for many reasons:
Oxbridge's Academy's football stadium drew so much attention that the private prep school issued an alert reminding the media and the public the event was invitation-only. The school acknowledged "the heightened interest in this year’s event."
Days before his son's commencement ceremony, the former president fumed "that I can't go to my son's graduation" because of his New York business fraud trial. However, the judge presiding over the case dealing with the bookkeeping of an alleged hush money payment to a porn star subsequently canceled court for a day, allowing Trump to attend Barron's graduation.
On May 17, 2024, Barron Trump was one of 116 seniors who received their diploma at Oxbridge. While a loudspeaker announced the names of the graduates, Barron Trump's name was not announced, likely a decision to avoid any extra attention (scroll up for video of Barron Trump's graduation at the top of this story). His parents and grandfather were in the stadium's aluminum-seated bleachers, in the front.
How tall is Barron Trump?
At 6-foot, 7-inches, Barron Trump is the tallest of the Trump siblings, and rises above his father, who is 6 feet 3 inches, although some reports say he's actually 6 feet 2 inches tall. His mother, Melania Trump, is 5-feet, 11-inches tall.
Will Barron Trump attend another Trump rally? Will Barron Trump get into politics?
Now that Barron Trump is an adult, the question seems to come up: Will the former president's youngest son get into politics or be active in his father's campaign?
On May 8, 2024, NBC News reported that Barron Trump had been selected as a member of the Florida delegation to this summer's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. As a delegate, he would join his half brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and his half-sister Tiffany Trump in casting votes to officially nominate their father as the GOP's presidential nominee for a third straight time.
But on the evening of May 10, 2024, Melania Trump issued a statement saying that while Barron was honored to have been chosen, he was declining the opportunity due to prior commitments. She did not elaborate as to what those commitments might be.
Barron Trump made his Trump rally speech debut July 9, 2024, at the Trump family golf resort in Doral, west of Miami. Though the youngest son of the 2024 Republican presidential nominee did not speak at the event, his father lauded him to the loudest cheers of his three sons, as Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also in attendance. It was the first Trump political rally the 18-year-old has attended.
Barron Trump was the only immediate Trump family member who did not attend the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee from July 15-19, 2024. His mother, former first lady Melania Trump, made a surprise appearance on the last day and sat in the Trump family box, when her husband formally accepted the Republican nomination.
Both sons of a president: Barron Trump and John F. Kennedy Jr. are (unintentional) magnets for public attention
Contributing: Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY; John Bisognano, Palm Beach Post
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Barron Trump: What to know about his life at Mar-a-Lago, White House
