Barron Trump made a surprise appearance Tuesday night at Donald Trump’s rally in Florida, and received a standing ovation when his father suggested that the 18-year-old was making his debut on the campaign trail.
The recent high school graduate stood and waved to the wildly enthusiastic crowd of Trump supporters after his father introduced him at the rally at his Trump National Doral Golf Club. The Republican presidential candidate praised his youngest son’s intelligence, demeanor and rising popularity and joked that he “might be more popular” than his older sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the New York Post reported.
“This is a young man,” Trump said about Barron. “He just turned 18 — oh, look at this,” the former president said before stopping as the crowd’s cheers intensified, the New York Post said.
“A very young man who is now going to college — got into every college he wanted to and he made his choice,” Trump continued. “He’s a very good guy.”
The Trump family has not revealed where Barron will attend college, while his appearance at the rally was a surprise because he notably turned down an invitation to serve as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. His mother, Melania Trump, reportedly “put her foot down” after the Florida Republican Party announced in May that he would be a delegate. Her office announced that Barron had “regretfully” declined to participate in the convention “due to prior commitments,”
While no further details were given for why Barron was withdrawing from the convention, it’s been known that Melania Trump has long worked protect her son from the rough-and-tumble world of her husband’s MAGA politics and his controversies.
But it appears that her reported efforts to keep Barron out of politics have not been successful, as her son, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches, became the star of Tuesday night’s rally.
“This is the first time he’s ever done this, Barron … stand up,” Trump said, while his son rose and gave the crowd a fist pump and wave.
“That’s the first time he’s done it. That’s the first time, right? You’re pretty popular. He might be more popular than Don and Eric, we got to talk about that,” the former president said, referring to Barron’s half-brothers, both of whom addressed the crowd earlier in the evening.
“Welcome to the scene, Barron,” Trump said, before remarking that Barron “had such a nice, easy life — now it’s a little bit changed.”
Barron’s life may not have been so “nice” or “easy,” given his father’s polarizing public persona, as well as his multiple indictments and recent criminal trial in Manhattan, which concluded with the former president being convicted of falsifying business records related to his cover-up of a sex scandal during his 2016 presidential campaign. During the trial, it was reported that it had become difficult for Melania to keep her husband’s alleged personal indiscretions from spilling over into their private family life. The trial included lurid testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels, detailing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006, when Barron was a few months old.
Whatever Melania Trump’s concerns have been, Barron’s participation in his father’s campaign has been hotly anticipated by Trump insiders, who think he could be the true heir to his father’s MAGA legacy.
“Barron is handsome, tall — taller even than his father — and very knowledgeable for someone his age. He’s also far more politically interested than people realize,” a Trump insider said in a glowing Daily Mail profile of the teenager.
“I see all the attributes of a future president if he has the appetite for it. And why not? He has the Trump genes,” the insider also said.
Another Trumpworld figure, Iranian American business mogul Patrick Bet-David, was mightily impressed when he hung out with Barron during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, according to the Daily Mail.
On his PDB podcast, Bet-David described Barron as “sharp, funny, sarcastic, tough — not weak,” the Daily Mail reported. Moreover, in a clip posted to X, formerly Twitter, Bet-David praised Barron’s good manners and humility, calling him a “freaking stud of a kid.”
Bet-David furthermore explained on his podcast that Barron is prepared for the challenges of entering the political arena. He said Barron told him, “It’s officially fair game to come after me.”
The teen apparently was referring to the media and to Trump’s opponents, who had taken a hands-off approach to writing about him or criticizing him when he was a minor. “‘I don’t care. Good, do it,” Barron reportedly said, according to Bet-David.