When Donald Trump moved into the White House in January 2017, first lady Melania Trump continued to live primarily at Trump Tower in Manhattan so their son Barron Trump could finish out the school year before they relocated to Washington, D.C. And that basically set the tone for the entire Trump presidency: Melania famously prioritized keeping her only child—who was 11 when his dad was elected president for his first term—out of the spotlight.
Not that there wasn't plenty of curiosity about what Barron's life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was like . After all, he was only the second president's son to spend part of his childhood there since John F. Kennedy Jr.
in the early 1960s. But for the most part, the fact that he was a child kept him off-limits from the type of scrutiny directed at his parents. Every once in a while he'd trend on Twitter (now X), usually because a new photo had come out showing how darn tall Barron was getting.
However, time works in mysterious ways and the first kid is now 18 (and 6-foot-7!), meaning that when his father returns to the White House in January, having defeated Democratic challenger Vice President Kamala Harris , he'll be in college at New York University and his path forward—at least legally speaking—is his own. "He is a very strong-minded, very special, smart boy," Melania told Parenting.com of her then-6-year-old in 2012.
"He is independent and opinionated and knows exactly what he wants. Sometimes I call him little Donald. He is.