Earlier this month Donald Trump made a big show of introducing his youngest child Barron at a rally in Florida, suggesting that the 18-year-old was making his political debut, which prompted the crowd to give the teenager a standing ovation as his father’s possible political heir.
But on Thursday, the recent high school graduate skipped the Republican National Convention’s closing night festivities, when his father formally accepted his party’s nomination to be its 2024 presidential candidate and to attempt a return to the White House.
Barron Trump gestures after his father Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump introduced him during a campaign rally at Trump National Doral Miami, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Barron did not join his mother, Melania Trump, as she entered the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, the New York Times reported. The former first lady instead entered alone, to “rapturous applause” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Times said. Also making a highly anticipated appearance Thursday was Barron’s older half-sister, Ivanka Trump. Like Melania, Ivanka has largely avoided this year’s campaign, even though she was a highly visible presence in Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and controversially served as a senior adviser in his White House.
But after Trump’s ignominious defeat in 2020 and subsequent criminal indictments, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, retreated to a more private life in Miami with their three children. When Trump announced he was running for president again in November 2022, Ivanka Trump insisted that she was done with politics, though there have been reports that she’d be interested in a job in her father’s administration if he were re-elected.
Whatever Ivanka Trump’s intentions, she and Kushner went on stage to join Melania Trump and other family members, as well as vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, to celebrate Trump’s 90-minute acceptance speech. But Barron was absent, as the Times and other outlets noted.
The family members onstage included prominent fixtures of the campaign: Donald Trump Jr.; Eric Trump and Lara Trump, Eric’s wife, who is the co-chair of the Republican Party; as well as Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Jr.’s longtime fiancé. Tiffany Trump, Trump’s youngest daughter, also was in the audience Thursday night.
CLEVELAND, OH – JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald embraces his son Barron Trump after he delivered his speech on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party’s nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Barron’s absence was hard to avoid, since he was a notable and somewhat poignant presence at the past two Republican conventions in 2016 and 2020.
Instead of Barron, the Trumps had another younger-generation member who made a big splash at the convention.
Granddaughter of US former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Kai Madison Trump speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Days after he survived an assassination attempt Donald Trump won formal nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and picked Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance for running mate. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
That was Kai Madison Trump, the 17-year-old daughter of Donald Jr., who gave a short unscheduled speech on Wednesday night, to let Americans know “the side of my grandpa that people don’t often see.” The New York Post and other outlets reported that Kai “stole the show” with a speech that sought to humanize Trump after he was the target of an assassination attempt on Saturday.
Kai, who is Barron’s niece, talked about how she regularly plays golf with her grandfather and how he pushes for excellence in his 10 grandchildren, but how he also is doting and fun-loving, giving his grandchildren “candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking” and always wanting “to know how we’re doing in school.”
Kai also explained how upsetting it was to learn on Saturday that someone had tried to assassinate her grandfather at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“On Saturday, I was shocked when I heard that he has been shot, and I just wanted to know if he was OK,” Kai said. “It was heartbreaking that someone could do that to another person.”
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 27: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) gestures toward first lady Melania Trump and his son Barron Trump after delivering his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House August 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump gave the speech in front of 1500 invited guests. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In a report about Barron’s absence, the New York Times didn’t say whether the Trump campaign had offered any explanation. A spokesperson for Trump only confirmed to Newsweek that Barron would miss the RNC’s closing night event.
Back in May, there had been a kerfuffle over Barron’s convention attendance. The week before Barron graduated from his exclusive private high school in Florida, the Republican Party announced that he had been invited to serve as an at-large delegate to the convention.
In a somewhat startling move, Melania Trump reportedly “put her foot down” and announced that her son would not, in fact, be a delegate at the convention. Over the years, the former first lady has fiercely guarded her son’s privacy and kept him somewhat removed from the rough-and-tumble world of her husband’s MAGA politics and his controversies.
People stand to applaud former US First Lady Melania Trump (C) during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. Donald Trump will get a hero’s welcome Thursday as he accepts the Republican Party’s nomination to run for US president in a speech capping a convention dominated by the recent attempt on his life. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
In announcing that Barron wouldn’t be a convention delegate, Melania Trump’s office also stated that the teenager had “regretfully” declined to participate in the convention “due to prior commitments.”
So, it’s possible that Barron had “prior commitments” this week that kept him from being a delegate. But it’s somewhat surprising that he, his mother or his father would allow “commitments” to keep him from his father’s acceptance speech, a significant moment in the campaign calendar, as well as for his family.
Trump, though, didn’t seem to be at all ruffled by his youngest son’s absence and gave him a shout-out during his speech, the New York Times and other outlets reported. In “a baritone growl,” Trump said: “Everybody loves Barron!” The other Trump children, and the audience, laughed.
Trump gave his youngest son an even bigger shout-out when he introduced him at the July 9 rally at his Trump National Doral Golf Club. He also suggested that the 6-foot-7-inch teenager was making his political debut and would start campaigning for him by saying he was joining “the scene.”
“This is the first time he’s ever done this, Barron … stand up,” Trump said, while his son rose and gave the wildly enthusiastic 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.
“Welcome to the scene, Barron,” Trump said, before remarking that Barron “had such a nice, easy life — now it’s a little bit changed.”
