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Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron Trump is a recent addition to the political scene, having been officially introduced by his father to supporters at a Miami rally earlier this month.
The 18-year-old received a wild reception at the Doral resort on July 9 and waved to the crowd. It prompted his father to joke that he was “more popular” than his other sons, Don Jr and Eric.
Long shielded from the spotlight by his mother Melania, Barron was dragged into the headlines in April when Trump complained that the judge in his New York hush money trial would not allow him to attend the teen’s graduation.
Barron graduated from high school in Florida on May 17. The former president was ultimately permitted a day off from court to attend the ceremony.
Barron was then reported to be enrolled as a delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee representing Florida – only for his mother’s office to put out a statement saying while he was “honoured” to be chosen, he “regretfully” could not accept.
Trump himself did not appear to object previously.
“He’s pretty young, I will say. He’s 17,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Telemundo 51 Miami, appearing to get his son’s age wrong. “But if they can do that, I’m all for it.”
So who is Barron Trump and what do we know about him?
Barron William Trump was born on 20 March 2006 and is the former president’s only child with his third wife.
He was baptised at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida – the same venue he returned to in January for the funeral of his maternal grandmother, Amalija Knavs.
The youngest of all of the former president’s children, Barron was raised at Trump Tower in Manhattan and attended the affluent borough’s Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School.
Barron was still a child when his father won the presidency in November 2016 and entered the White House.
Although he did attend his father’s inauguration in January 2017, he was largely restrained from public view by his mother, who initially did not join her husband in Washington DC but chose to stay behind in New York so that her son could finish his elementary school year.
The first lady’s protective attitude was more than justified given that, incredibly, he was attacked by The Daily Caller, aged just 11, over his choice of clothes.
A bizarre August 2017 article in the Caller argued that Barron should be “dressing like he is in the White House”, rather than wearing a harmless red shark T-shirt in public like any other kid his age.
Having taken his Columbia Grammar classmates on a tour of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Barron was subsequently enrolled in St Andrew’s Episcopal School, a private institution in Potomac, Maryland.
There, he was largely allowed to pursue his education in peace until his father lost the 2020 presidential election, at which point the family relocated to Trump’s sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Barron then enlisted at the nearby Oxbridge Academy in 2021, the institution from which he graduated from in May.
Little else is currently known about the youngest Trump, although he is understood to be fluent in Slovenian thanks to his mother’s influence and a keen soccer fan.
He has been seen wearing an Arsenal shirt and met DC United players when they came to the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll in April 2017.
As for what Barron Trump might do next, his father told journalist Megyn Kelly in September 2023 that his son was “thinking about” attending the University of Pennsylvania, where his father and three of his children studied.
Rumours have also indicated that Barron could attend New York University in Manhattan, where he grew up, according to The Daily Beast.
However, Barron’s plans appear to have changed, with Trump previously remarking at a Mar-a-Lago NFT event, according to Newsweek: “Right now, he’s doing a great job. He has great marks.
“He’s going to be going to college soon. And we’re looking at some colleges that are different [than] they were two months ago.”
During the teenager’s appearance on the campaign trail in Miami earlier this month, his father told the cheering crowds: “That’s the first time he’s done it.
“He might be more popular than Don and Eric … Welcome to the scene, Barron, I don’t know. He had such a nice, easy life. Now it’s a little bit changed. Special guy, right?”
He added: “A very young man who’s now going to college. Got into every college he wanted to and he made his choice. And he’s a very good guy.”
