Just 24 hours after being named as a delegate for his father at this year's Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 18-year-old Barron Trump is now abandoning those plans.
CNN reporter Alayna Treene tweeted Friday that former President Donald Trump's youngest son would now no longer be a participant in the convention, following a statement issued by the office of former First Lady Melania Trump and an unnamed senior advisor to the 2024 Trump campaign. There was no reason given for Barron's withdrawal other than that "he regretfully declines due to prior commitments."
Speculation ran wild on social media following the news of Barron Trump pulling out of the RNC, with some commenters on X (formerly Twitter) opining that Melania likely pulled her son out of politics in order to protect him. Journalist Marcy Wheeler posited that "serving as a delegate is, per recent experience, a gateway to prison time."
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Axios reported that Barron Trump's participation in the 2024 RNC was effectively his first foray into the political limelight after the Florida Republican Party added him to its list of at-large delegates. Barron was set to join three of Trump's other adult children — Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany — at this year's convention as Florida delegates. Notably, Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, is not expected to participate after saying in 2022 she wasn't interested in a political career.
The Florida GOP's decision to make Barron Trump a delegate may have been prompted behind the scenes by his father. The ex-president said in a recent talk radio interview with WPHT Philadelphia's Kayal and Company that his youngest son was delving more into the political world and had become one of his de facto advisors.
"He does like politics. It’s sort of funny. He’ll tell me sometimes, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do.’ So anyway, he’s a good guy. He’s a senior now in high school, and he’ll be going to college," Trump said, adding that Barron "is a smart one."
The apparent decision by Barron's mother to pull him out of participating in the convention suggests that there may be a growing rift between the former first lady and the 45th president of the United States. Barron Trump's one-eighty on participating in the RNC comes as his father is currently in the midst of a public criminal trial in which his alleged former mistress — adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels — recently testified about an extramarital rendezvous she had with him just weeks after Barron was born.
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Stephanie Grisham, who was Melania Trump's former chief of staff, said Barron's mother has likely been paying close attention to the Manhattan trial, given that it concerns alleged affairs her husband allegedly paid six-figure sums to hide from the public. In an interview with CNN, Grisham said Trump's shout-out to his wife on her 54th birthday in late April was a performative gesture that was meant more for voters than his spouse.
"I rolled my eyes when he did that. It was so beyond inappropriate," Grisham said. "[Melania] and I talked before about how they actually weren't really birthday people, that that wasn't actually a big deal to either of them... and so that was a performance for voters. That was not to her. Same with this video. That is a performance to try and get voters."
"It didn't surprise me at all. I'm sure she rolled her eyes too, because it was just so typical, selfish Donald Trump," Grisham added.
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