Throughout his childhood, Barron Trump’s fiercely protective mother, Melania, did everything she could to shield her son from the worst excesses of a life in the public eye.
Such was her success in keeping him at bay — even as her father became the most famous man in the world — that very little is actually known about Donald Trump’s youngest son.
Despite his 6-foot-6 height, Barron cuts a modest figure, speaking little and smiling shyly as he glides between dark-bodied SUVs and the family apartments in New York’s Trump Tower, always with his mother at his side, of course.
He was just 10 years old when his father was first elected president in 2016 and when Melania, for all her apparent coolness, insisted on personally preparing his breakfast and lunch every day.
That image of a nervous “mama’s boy” was all but shattered Tuesday night. At a raucous Trump rally in the family’s home turf of Miami, amid MAGA hats and flags everywhere, Barron, who turned 18 in March, was officially brought into his father’s world.
“Welcome to the scene, Barron,” Trump shouted, pointing to his son, who rose from his front-row seat and waved to the adoring crowd. “He’s had such a nice, easy life, now it’s changed a little bit.”
At a raucous Trump rally in the family’s home turf of Miami (above), amid MAGA hats and flags galore, Barron, who turned 18 in March, was officially inducted into his father’s world.
“Welcome to the scene, Barron,” Trump shouted, pointing to his son, who rose from his front-row seat and waved to the adoring crowd. “He’s had such a nice, easy life, now it’s changed a little bit.”
Meanwhile, Melania was hundreds of miles away in New York, busy hosting a fundraiser for the Republican Party. Not that Barron seemed to mind, smiling as his father joked, “You’re so popular!”
But does this jovial summer rally mean something deeper?
Trump’s associates have long said the former president hopes to establish a generational political dynasty to rival the Kennedys and Clintons.
Could Barron’s coming of age be the moment Donald has been waiting for?
“(Trump) wants his name to resonate in the corridors of power in Washington long after he is gone,” Thomas Gift, director of the Centre for American Politics at University College London, tells DailyMail.com. “If Trump wins in 2024, we can bet he will want a major role in appointing his likely successor, preferably someone who is part of his family tree.”
During Trump’s presidency, there were rumors that his eldest daughter, Ivanka, now 42, was the clear favorite to carry on the mantle.
It certainly made sense. Ivanka was a top aid to his administration, working for her father alongside her husband, Jared Kushner.
But when he retired from politics in 2022, saying “while I will always love and support my father, I will do so outside the political arena in the future,” he left a void in the line of succession.
Trump’s two other sons, Eric, 40, and Donald Jr, 46, have been active in politics for some time.
Don Jr. in particular has become something of an adviser to his father in the years since he became president, notably attending Trump’s entire seven-week trial in Manhattan over hush money payments this spring.
But it’s unclear whether he or Eric have the charisma and — critics might say — the intelligence to carry on Trump’s legacy.
Trump’s two other sons, Eric, 40, and Donald Jr, 46, have been active in politics for some time.
He was just 10 years old when his father was first elected president in 2016 and when Melania, for all her apparent coolness, insisted on personally preparing his breakfast and lunch every day.
Despite his towering height, towering over his father, the 6’3″ Barron cuts a modest figure, speaking little and smiling shyly as he glides between dark-bodied SUVs and the family apartments in New York’s Trump Tower – and, of course, always with his mother at his side.
“The problem is that there is still only one Donald Trump. He is a singularly iconoclastic figure who cannot be easily replaced, even by his own relatives,” Gift says.
At Tuesday’s rally in Miami, Trump even appeared to joke about the issue. Barron is now “more popular” than Don Jr. and Eric, he joked, adding: “We need to talk about that.”
But is Barron open to the conversation?
Since turning 18 and graduating from the exclusive Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, gossip has abounded about her future ambitions.
It is not yet known which college he will attend, although Trump indicated on Tuesday that his son had “already made up his mind.”
Possibilities are said to include New York University, Georgetown (Eric’s alma mater) and the University of Pennsylvania, where both his father and Don Jr. study economics.
But while Barron’s choice of subject and career goals have not been publicly confirmed, a transition into the world of politics seems increasingly likely.
“He’s much more politically interested than people think,” a source told the Mail in May.
“I see all the attributes of a future president if he has the desire to do it. And why not? He has the Trump genes.”
MAGA fans are certainly buying into the narrative of Barron’s accession, and have even begun referring to him as “Emperor Barron Trump” online.
One fan, Ben Berry, shared a video on X showing him stopping Trump at Mar-A-Lago earlier this year and asking him: “You have a fantastic family, Barron’s popularity in particular is growing. What hopes and aspirations do you have for your son?”
It is not yet known which college he will attend, although Trump indicated on Tuesday that his son had already “made up his mind.”
“They say Barron is getting very popular. Barron, ladies and gentlemen, Barron Trump is getting very popular,” Trump responded.
Even Republican bigwigs appear interested in bringing on Barron, announcing in May that he had been selected as a Florida delegate to the party’s summer convention next week.
Melania “regretfully declined” the invitation on his behalf, saying he was “honoured” to be asked but had “prior commitments”.
Barron has long been accustomed to his mother’s indomitable maternal spirit.
She broke with tradition when Trump was elected, initially choosing to stay in New York and keep Barron with her, insisting he finish his school year in the city rather than transfer to D.C.’s Sidwell Friends school, where the Clintons, Bushes and Obamas all sent their children.
“When he was still a minor she was jealously protective of him and we knew very little about the details of his daily life,” a family source told DailyMail.com.
“I think he can make more decisions for himself now (at 18). He can invite whoever he wants to dinner. He’s slowly becoming more public.”
Last week, as news of President Biden’s disastrous performance in the CNN debate with Trump reverberated, images emerged of Donald sitting with Barron beside him in a golf cart.
In the recording, Trump can be heard cruelly joking to staffers that Biden is a “beat-up old pile of garbage” and that he’s “dropping out of the race,” before directing his anger toward Vice President Kamala Harris, saying, “She’s so f–king bad.”
Astute political observers were quick to point out that while Barron remained silent, he noticeably nodded his head as his father spoke.
Melania’s former White House chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told DailyMail.com this week that she was not surprised by this.
“Now that he’s 18, he can make more decisions,” she said, adding that it’s “very possible” Barron will choose a career in politics.
“He is a statesman, almost like a king.”
No matter what happens, Grisham insisted that Barron would always have his mother to rely on.
“Melania would support any decision he made, she would be there to give him advice, no matter what his private thoughts were,” she said.
So, with the support of his father, the Republican Party and now even his mother, the question arises: Have we just met the new face of the Trump dynasty?