Barron Trump: Key things that happened (mostly in Florida) when he turned 18, an election year
The only child of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump suddenly became more famous when he reached that milestone birthday. Because in America, that's an age where you're considered an adult.
Before Barron Trump turned 18, he was largely kept out of the spotlight because of Melania Trump's protective nature. He has shown interest in his father's politics, particularly during the 2024 presidential election, though he did not make many public appearances.
In honor of his 19th birthday on March 20, 2025, we've put together a Barron Trump roundup of milestones, rites of passage and significant events that occurred when he was 18.
Barron Trump is the sole child of Donald and Melania Trump. He was born in New York on March 20, 2006. Ten years later, Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
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 — she and Barron Trump remained behind in New York so he could finish school. At the time, Barron Trump was attending 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 when Barron Trump was 11 years old.
He really stands out: How tall is Barron Trump, only child of Donald and Melania Trump? Google used to say 6'9"
After his father lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, Donald and Melania Trump went back to his private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. Mar-a-Lago had earned the nickname the "Southern White House" and the "Winter White House" because of the amount of time Donald Trump spent there during his presidency.
When Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election against Democratic challenger, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the commander in chief publicly praised Barron Trump for helping secure votes from young voters.
It's easy for Donald Trump to make headlines, and the president-elect welcomes it. Many times in 2024, Barron and Melania Trump made headlines without even meaning to. "How tall is Barron Trump?" became a Google sensation when the search engine listed Trump's youngest son as 6-foot-9 two months after news reports estimated he was 6-foot-7 (Google now lists Barron Trump as 6'7").
Though his family is on social media and often makes public appearances alongside Donald Trump, Barron Trump's foray into the spotlight is rare.
May 17, 2024: Barron Trump graduated from Oxbridge Academy, a college-preparatory school in West Palm Beach, Florida, for grades 6-12, where annual tuition is a reported $41,500. Only three members of his famous family attended the ceremony: His parents, Donald and Melania Trump, and his grandfather, Viktor Knavs.
Barron Trump's high school graduation was a hot topic for news for many reasons:
Oxbridge's Academy's football stadium drew so much attention that the private prep school issued an alert reminding the media and the public the event was invitation-only. The school acknowledged "the heightened interest in this year's event."
Days before his son's commencement ceremony, Donald Trump fumed "that I can't go to my son's graduation" because of his New York business fraud trial. However, the judge presiding over the case dealing with the bookkeeping of an alleged hush money payment to a porn star subsequently canceled court for a day, allowing Trump to attend Barron Trump's graduation.
On May 17, 2024, Barron Trump was one of 116 seniors who received their diploma at Oxbridge. While a loudspeaker announced the names of the graduates, Barron Trump's name was not announced, likely a decision to avoid any extra attention (scroll up for video of Barron Trump's graduation at the top of this story). His parents and grandfather were in the stadium's aluminum-seated bleachers, in the front.
After graduation, the topic of where Barron Trump would attend college became a popular one online.
Donald Trump often dropped hints about his youngest son's intent for higher education without actually name-dropping the university. The world was watching. And tweeting. And making TikToks about all of it.
Days after Labor Day 2024, Barron Trump was spotted at NYU's campus in New York, flanked by Secret Service. His decision to choose a college in New York stood out from his family: His father graduated from business school at the University of Pennsylvania, and Barron Trump's half-siblings — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump — each have ties to the University of Pennsylvania or Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The youngest Trump is following much of the family in pursuing a business degree, but forging a new path in choosing the Stern School of Business, known as NYU Stern.
His parents never disclosed why he chose NYU over University of Penn or Georgetown, but the main campus is 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.
Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day: Add the title of "proud mom" for Melania Trump − Barron Trump, her only child with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, officially cast his first vote.
The former first lady tweeted a photo of her very tall 18-year-old son shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, aka Election Day 2024. The Palm Beach Daily News, a USA TODAY Network newspaper, reported earlier in the day that Donald and Melania Trump voted at the Mandel Recreation Center near Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. But it wasn't known at the time whether Barron Trump cast a ballot.
Until Melania Trump's tweet. As of 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, the tweet has already been viewed more than 2.5 million times. Its message? "Voted for the first time - for his dad! #18yearsold #presidentialelection #proud"
The photo of Barron Trump does not show his face, but it is on the official X account (formerly known as Twitter) of Melania Trump.
Nov. 6, 2024, Election Night: During the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Trump family attended a Republicans Election Night watch party on Nov. 5, 2024, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, over hosting at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The entire Trump family was there with Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Barron Trump and Melania's father, Viktor Knavs, on stage first.
Jan. 20, 2025, Inauguration Day: Viktor Knavs was standing next to his grandson, Barron Trump, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., before his son-in-law and daughter were formally announced as the president and first lady of the United States. Knavs, whose March 24th birthday is four days after his grandson's, also sat next to Barron Trump during his son-in-law's speech. Knavs is two years older than Donald Trump. (The extended Trump family, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and their children and spouses, also attended Inauguration Day events.)
The last time Barron Trump attended his father's inauguration, he was 10 years old.
On Jan. 20, 2017, the entire Trump family − from eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to youngest son, Barron, to in-laws, nieces and nephews − gathered at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to witness the swearing-in of Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States and Melania Trump as first lady. Even at 10, Barron Trump was noticeably tall for his age. Photo galleries above show pictures of the sole child of Donald and Melania Trump standing almost eye level to his mom at about age 11.
In 2017, Barron Trump was an elementary school student and the first boy to live at the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. Donald, Melania and Barron Trump lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. from 2017 to 2021.
Contributing: Antonio Fins and John Bisognano, Palm Beach Post
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Barron Trump birthday: Details about Donald and Melania's only child
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