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In 2017, Melania and Barron Trump stayed in New York for months before moving into the White House. Will history repeat itself in 2025?
How tall is Barron Trump? Photos show very tall son of Donald, Melania
Barron Trump, born March 20, 2006, was almost as tall as Melania Trump by 2017. Photos in 2018 show the pair walking side by side, almost eye to eye.
- In 2017, Melania Trump spent the first 5 months of the Trump administration living apart from the president — so Barron could finish school in New York.
- After graduation from Oxbridge Academy in Florida, Barron Trump enrolled in NYU’s Stern School of Business for fall 2024.
- NYU students like Barron Trump have winter break from Dec. 21, 2024, to Jan. 21, 2025, a day after Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Come January 2025, Donald Trump is headed back to the White House. Will Melania and Barron Trump be there, too?
The former president will begin his second term on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025, with Melania Trump as first lady. Barron Trump, the only child of Donald and Melania Trump, previously lived at the White House during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, from 2017 to 2020. Now Barron Trump is a freshman at New York University, which starts its spring 2025 term a day later, on Jan. 21, 2025.
Will the president-elect’s youngest son return to New York for college and live in the White House and Mar-a-Lago when school’s not in session? During his father’s first term, Melania and Barron Trump didn’t move into the White House until long after Donald Trump took office. Here’s what we know.
After Inauguration Day 2025, will Melania and Barron Trump move into the White House?
During his first term as president, Donald and Melania Trump did not reside together at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. — at least for the first few months of his presidency.
In 2017, the third Mrs. Donald Trump spent the first five months of his administration living apart from the president — so she and their only son, Barron Trump, could remain behind in New York so he could finish school. He had attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan.
After that, Barron Trump then attended school closer to Washington, D.C., at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, about 14 miles from the White House. He and Melania Trump officially moved in that summer.
At the time, Barron Trump was 11 years old. His protective mom had largely kept him out of the spotlight, a trend that continued until he turned 18 years old in March 2024.
But now that his famous father has been re-elected president and Barron Trump is a young adult freshman at New York University, it’s natural to wonder if he’ll remain in New York as Donald Trump heads back to Washington, D.C. Since Melania Trump’s very protective over Barron Trump and an “empty nester,” a term that describes a parent whose child has left the home, it’s a fantasy most parents with college-age children can relate to.
According to a People magazine story, an unnamed source said Melania Trump would likely go wherever Barron Trump goes.
When was Donald Trump president?
Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, and his term in the White House was from 2017 to 2021. He lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden and returned to his private club, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 20, 2021.
Trump then won the 2024 presidential election against Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris. His second term in office starts Jan. 20, 2025, or Inauguration Day.
After 2020 presidential election, Donald, Melania and Barron Trump mainly lived at Mar-a-Lago
Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, became known as the Winter White House or the Southern White House during the Trump administration. Though Donald Trump used his New York City address as his main residency for years, he famously made Mar-a-Lago his primary residence in 2019. Typically, Mar-a-Lago is open to members during Palm Beach’s “social season,” roughly from October through April. But the Trump family quarters are separate.
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, Donald, Melania and Barron Trump went home to Mar-a-Lago. Barron Trump lived there until after high school graduation. On May 17, 2024, when he graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, he was one of 116 seniors to receive their diploma. While a loudspeaker announced the names of the graduates, Barron Trump’s name was not announced, likely a decision to avoid any extra attention.
It was during this time that Donald Trump was in court for the hush-money case involving an adult porn star, Stormy Daniels. He also had legal troubles following the infamous documents raid at Mar-a-Lago.
Divisive 2024 presidential election, assassination attempts keep Barron Trump from campaign appearances
Barron Trump was initially selected to serve as a Florida delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention − which would have been his first official campaign appearance for his father − but Melania Trump stated May 10 that Barron Trump would not be able to attend due to “prior commitments.”
In 2020, the entire Trump family — Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump — attended the Republican National Convention in unity to support former President Donald Trump.
But at the 2024 RNC, when Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination on July 18, Barron Trump was the only immediate Trump family member who did not attend.
A week prior, his father survived an assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
When there was an attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former first lady released a statement the next day to express her thoughts and concerns: “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote in a statement. “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” Melania Trump wrote. “The core facets of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”
In September, Ryan Routh, was arrested in a plot to kill Donald Trump at the president-elect’s golf course near West Palm Beach, Florida.
After summer 2024, Barron Trump left Florida. Melania Trump called New York ‘home‘ as Barron Trump started college there
In August 2024, Barron Trump left Florida for New York University’s Stern School of Business.
The NYU campus is not far from Trump Tower in Manhattan, where Barron Trump spent much of his childhood and lived until his father was sworn in as the 45th president in early 2017.
It is not known whether Donald or Melania Trump attended rites of passage for their college-bound son. But Melania Trump did issue a rare public statement about New York. On the social media platform X, Melania Trump posted a photo of the New York City skyline on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, and mentioned how she feels about the iconic destination: “New York City captivated my heart the moment I arrived, 28 years ago today. This electrifying town isn’t just my home; it’s a colorful canvas where dreams come alive. New York’s iconic skyline and vibrant culture inspire me every day.” That was about the same week Barron Trump and other college freshmen start fall 2024 classes with student orientation, college “move-in” weekends, etc.
Though Melania Trump made several campaign appearances in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, her absence was noticeable during the 2024 presidential election. After the Republican National Convention in July 2024, she did appear at a Trump rally on Oct. 27, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Barron Trump reportedly did not attend, though it was less than three miles away from NYU. Interestingly, that same weekend was NYU’s Alumni and Families Weekend. It is not known whether Donald and Melania Trump attended their only son’s college event.
After voting in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, Melania and Barron Trump did attend Donald Trump’s Election Night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on Nov. 5, 2024.
Will Melania Trump stay in New York as Barron Trump attends college there? Will Melania Trump live in the White House in 2025?
When Barron Trump graduated from Oxford Academy in West Palm Beach in May 2024, he enrolled in New York University’s Stern School of Business for fall 2024. He’s projected to be part of NYU’s class of 2028.
Living on campus at NYU is optional, but “first-year residents of Manhattan-based schools are assigned to Manhattan residence halls only. There are no exceptions,” according to the university, which has its own NYU housing handle on Instagram.
Though Mar-a-Lago is still home to Barron Trump, news reports have said he is staying at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, as he attends college nearby (NYU is less than 5 miles from Trump Tower).
According to NYU’s calendar, winter break for NYU students is Dec. 21, 2024, to Jan. 21, 2025, a day after Inauguration Day.
It is not known whether Barron Trump will return to the White House when school is not in session. It is likely the 18-year-old college freshman will still frequent the White House and his father’s private club, Mar-a-Lago.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
