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, 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 former first kid is now 18 (and 6-foot-7!), meaning college is on the horizon 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 a mixture of us in looks, but his personality is why I call him little Donald."
And a couple months shy of his 9th birthday, Barron was "terrific," according to his father.
"He's a great boy," Donald told E! News in January 2015. "He's working hard, he's starting the school thing."
In 2016, during a debate against Hillary Clinton, the presidential candidate marveled at his 10-year-old's tech savvy. "He is so good with computers," he said, "it's unbelievable."
With Barron's dad running for president again as the Republican nominee in 2024, get to know the former—and possibly future—first son:
Born March 20, 2006, Barron is the only child of Donald Trump and third wife Melania Trump. The former president is also dad to Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump with his late ex-wife Ivana Trump and daughter Tiffany Trump with second ex-wife Marla Maples.
Barron was a name his dad "always loved" but "never had the courage to use" when his other kids were born, the Celebrity Apprentice host said on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May 2006. "I gave the idea to Melania and then I was going to take it away at the very end and she said, ‘You can't take it away! I’ve been calling him Barron while he’s been in my stomach and you just can't take it away!'"
Before his dad became president, Barron attended the private Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in Manhattan, where, according to the school's website, tuition for the 2024-2025 term starts at $61,770 for pre-K.
Once the whole family had moved into the White House, Barron started going to St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., in the fall of 2017. A year of middle school at the private co-ed institution currently costs $49,680.
"It is known for its diverse community and commitment to academic excellence," Melania said in a May 2017 statement, explaining their choice. "The mission of St. Andrew's is 'to know and inspire each child in an inclusive community dedicated to exceptional teaching, learning and service,' all of which appealed to our family."
After Barron's dad lost his bid for re-election to President Joe Biden in 2020, the Trumps moved to Florida and the teen started at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach.
Barron graduated from Oxbridge in May with both parents in attendance, the former president writing on his social media platform Truth Social, per ABC News, "Going to Barron's High School Graduation. Great student, wonderful boy! Very exciting! DJT"
Meanwhile, there's been no news yet on whether Barron has made college plans. His father and all of his siblings—except for Eric, who went to Georgetown—attended the University of Pennsylvania as undergraduates.
Few things about the first son caught the public's attention more during the time he lived in the White House than his height.
Whenever Barron was photographed walking across the lawn it seemed as if he'd grown a few inches, the whole world serving as that relative who can't stop marveling over how big he'd gotten. And it wasn't long before he towered over both parents.
Internet speculation has put the 18-year-old as tall as 6-foot-9, but the Palm Beach Post, which enjoys closer proximity to the family's home at Mar-a-Lago, has him at 6-foot-7.
"I said, 'You're gonna be a basketball player,'" Donald said at a January 2024 campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, per the Daily Mail. "He said, 'Well, I like soccer, Dad, actually.' I thought...'At your height I like basketball better,' but you can't talk them into everything."
Paying tribute to his mother-in-law Amalija Knavs, who had died days beforehand, the candidate said of her and Melania's dad Viktor Knavs, "Great people, great parents to all of us, really. Great parents, but also to Barron. Boy, did [Amalija] take care of Barron. That's how he got so tall, he only ate her food.'"
Barron—who's eligible to vote in his first presidential election in November—hasn't really voiced any political sentiment one way or another aside from attending the 2016 and 2020 Republican National Conventions in support of his father.
He was offered the chance to serve as an at-large delegate to the 2024 convention in Milwaukee, but his mother's office said in a statement that, while he was "honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party," he "regretfully" declined to participate "due to prior commitments."
But, as the 2024 presidential candidate told Philadelphia radio station WHPT, Barron "does like politics" and has offered advice.
"It's sort of funny," the 78-year-old added. "He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do.'"
And while Barron wasn't seen at the 2024 RNC on July 18 with the rest of the family, he did attend a Trump campaign rally for the first time on July 9 in Doral, Fla., where Donald encouraged the teen to make his presence known.
"Where is Barron?" the candidate called from the stage, per the New York Times. "Stand up! Look at him!"
As the crowd started chanting Barron's name, his dad noted, "You’re pretty popular," adding, "He might be more popular than Don and Eric! Welcome to the scene, Barron."
Here's a guide to the whole Trump family, including kids and grandkids, making the scene:
Ivana Trump was the first wife of Former President Donald Trump. Born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia—now Zlín of the Czech Republic—in 1949, she rose to fame as a competitive skier. And, thanks to her marriage to Austrian ski instructor Alfred Winklmayr in 1971, Ivana was able to travel often outside of Czechoslovakia.
According to her book Raising Trump, the model met Donald three years after her 1973 divorce during a New York trip, where she'd traveled for a Canadian fashion show ahead of the Montreal Olympics. They wed in 1977 and welcomed three kids: Donald Trump Jr. born in 1977, Ivanka Trump born in 1981 and Eric Trump born in 1984.
The pair's divorce was finalized in 1992 following his affair with Marla Maples, whom he later married.
However, Ivana—who then married Riccardo Mazzucchelli for two years followed by Rossano Rubicondi for less than a year—and Donald remained on good terms.
“Donald during the divorce was brutal,” she told ABC News in 2017. “He took the divorce as a business deal, and he cannot lose. He has to win. So he took about two years. And after the final situation was straightened up, we would just talk and we are friends.”
Ivana died in 2022 at age 73. According to NBC News, the New York City Medical Examiner said she died of “blunt impact injuries” and that her manner of death was an accident. A senior NYC official with direct knowledge added the circumstances were consistent with a fall on the stairs in her New York apartment.
In 1977, Ivana and Donald welcomed their eldest son Donald Trump Jr. He began working for his father’s company The Trump Organization in 2001 and now serves as the executive vice president. Don Jr. has also been involved in his dad’s political campaigns, including speaking at rallies and the Republican National Convention during his father's presidential runs.
He shares five children with his ex-wife, model Vanessa Haydon: Kai (who made a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention) Donald III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe. Don Jr. is now engaged to Fox News alum Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Four years after the arrival of Don Jr., Donald and Ivana became parents to daughter Ivanka Trump.
Before her father’s presidency, the University of Pennsylvania alum worked at The Trump Organization. But after he was elected in 2016, the fashion brand founder—who had her own eponymous line—took on the role of Advisor to the President.
After her dad announced he would be running for president again in 2024, Ivanka revealed she would be stepping out of the political arena to focus on her family with husband, former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, and their children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore.
“I love my father very much,” she said in part of a 2022 statement obtained by NBC News. “This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”
Born in 1984, Eric Trump is the third child of Ivana and Donald. Like his brother, he works as executive vice president of The Trump Organization, which he joined in 2007.
He is married to Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, with whom he shares kids Luke and Carolina.
Marla Maples is Donald’s second wife, whom he met while still married to Ivana.
In Raising Trump, Ivana wrote the actress approached her about the affair during a trip to Aspen in 1989. Still, Marla said on a 2018 episode of the ABC podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris that she “never considered” herself a mistress.
"My intention was to never bring hurt," she continued. "Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after his divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. I mean, with all my heart. How much heartache would it have saved so many people if I had seen that piece of paper before we got involved? But it didn't happen that way."
Marla and Donald welcomed daughter Tiffany Trump in 1993, and the couple wed later that year. However, the Dancing With the Stars alum and the 45th commander in chief announced their separation four years later and finalized their divorce in 1999.
After her parents’ breakup, Tiffany Trump relocated with her mother to California.
"She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all that pressure,” Tiffany told People in 2016. “So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that.”
She released her 2011 single “Like a Bird" and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a B.A. in sociology, focusing on law and society. She then went to Georgetown Law School, where she graduated with a JD in 2020.
In 2022, Tiffany wed Michael Boulos.
Melania Trump is Donald’s third wife and former First Lady of the United States. Born in Mesto, Slovenia in 1970, she is the second First Lady to be born outside of the U.S. and the only First Lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Melania met Donald in New York in 1996 while she was working as a model.
“It was a big fashion party that my friend organized, fashion week, and he invited me,” she recalled on a 2016 episode of On the Record With Greta Van Susteren. “That’s how we met with Donald.”
Melania and Donald married in 2005, and they welcomed son Barron Trump the following year.
Born in 2006, Barron Trump is Donald and Melania’s only child. While he has lived a more private life—relocating with his parents from New York to live in Washington, D.C. and then Florida—it looked like he might enter the political world after he was selected in May 2024 as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention. However, Barron declined the offer.
"While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party,” a statement from Melania’s office shared with NBC News at the time said, “he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.”