Barron Trump pulled out of a major public appearance Monday night when he failed to show up for an interview to promote the family’s new cryptocurrency business.
His father and two brothers appeared in a Spaces discussion on X, the social networking site that used to be known as Twitter.
Host Farokh Sarmad, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, noted that 18-year-old Barron Trump did not make his scheduled appearance because “we took too long. We’re going to try to get him back.”
At the time, Don Trump Jr. was on the show and joked: “Damn teenagers! Now I’m like the old boomer: the grumpy old man with the white beard.”
Barron Trump did not appear on a live broadcast to promote the new family business: he is seen above with his father Donald Trump
By this time, Donald Trump had already finished the interview, but had previously been on the live broadcast to promote his new family business, World Liberty Financial (WLF), before leaving to hand over the floor to his children.
Don Jr. and Eric joined, but Barron disappeared despite his father crediting him with coming up with the idea.
“Barron knows a lot about this,” he said. “Barron is a young guy, but he knows… he talks about his (cryptocurrency) wallet, he has four wallets or something, and I ask him ‘what’s a wallet?’ But he knows it inside out.
The former president had a hard time explaining his new venture.
“It’s very important. It’s cryptography. It’s artificial intelligence. It’s a lot of other things. Artificial intelligence needs tremendous electrical capabilities, beyond anything I’ve heard before,” he said.
The interview was audio-only, but took place at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Palm Beach home.
It’s unclear how Barron, who is in his first year at New York University’s Stern School of Business, planned to join the conversation.
All of the former president’s children are involved in the new venture, according to a leaked document obtained by cryptocurrency news outlet CoinDesk. It mentions Eric and Don Jr as WLF’s resident “Web3 ambassadors” and Barron Trump as its “DeFi visionary” (i.e. “decentralized finance”).
Don Jr. and Eric have been promoting the initiative through their own channels. But despite the hour-long livestream on Monday night, details remain hazy.
Don Jr joked about his younger brother’s non-appearance
Donald Trump during an interview at X’s Spaces at Mar-a-Lago on Monday night, where he talked about his new business.
Donald Trump has made millions of dollars selling items featuring moments from his political life.
He uses the same social media accounts that promote his presidential bid to promote his businesses, like a $399 pair of gold sneakers, a coffee table book or a Bible.
If Trump wins the White House in November, his latest business venture could raise a host of ethical questions.
During the election campaign, Trump announced his support for policies favorable to digital currencies.
“We are embracing the future with cryptocurrency and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” Trump wrote in X.
He sold parts of the suit he was wearing during the July 13 assassination attempt and claimed to have earned $300,000 in royalties from The Greenwood Bible, a company associated with country singer Lee Greenwood.
Trump earned about $7.2 million in 2023 through a licensing deal with a company that sells digital NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, “trading cards” featuring the former president, according to his financial disclosure report.
The former president has also credited his youngest son with introducing him to NFTs.
Barron Trump has canceled planned appearances on previous occasions.
This summer, he was included as a delegate to the Republican National Convention from the state of Florida.
Her mother, Melania Trump, later said in a statement that she would not attend the convention due to a prior commitment.