Donald Trump took a break from hush-money trial proceedings in New York to attend Barron Trump's high school graduation ceremony in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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In photos and videos taken from outside the event venue, Donald and Melania Trump can be seen applauding for Oxbridge Academy's class of 2024.
Barron Trump rarely appeared in public during the Trump presidency, with his mother reported to be fiercely protective of his privacy.
In an interview, Mr Trump said his son, who is reportedly considering attending college at New York University (NYU), likes politics."It's sort of funny," he told Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. "He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do.'"
Former US President Donald Trump (R), with former First Lady Melania Trump (C) and her father Viktor Knavs (L), attends the graduation ceremony of his son, Barron Trump, at Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida, May 17, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP) (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA / AFP via Getty Images)
When the name “Barron William Trump” was announced, the 6-foot, 7-inch Trump scion, wearing a cap and gown, stepped up on stage, briefly waved to his parents in the crowd and accepted his diploma.
Barron's plans after high school have not been revealed, including if and where he'll be going to college. But one thing the 18-year-old won't be doing is serving as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. After the Florida Republican Party announced that he would be a delegate, Melania Trump "put her foot down" and announced that her son would not participate in nominating his father to be the 2024 GOP presidential candidate, the Daily Mail reported.
"While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments," Melania Trump's office said in a statement last week. While no details were given for why Barron was withdrawing from the convention, it's been known that the former first lady has long worked to protect her son from the rough-and-tumble world of her husband's MAGA politics and his controversies.
As Donald Trump has been embroiled in his criminal trial in Manhattan, Melania Trump has locked herself in a "tight bubble" in Mar-a-Lago, the Daily Mail reported. Her chief priority has been Barron, with a source close to the Trumps telling the U.K. news outlet: “He's so regal. He’s a little Melania.”
But the Daily Mail said it's become difficult for Trump's third wife to keep her husband's alleged personal indiscretions from spilling over into their private family life. The trial has included lurid testimony from Stormy Daniels, detailing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006, when Barron was a few months old.
Observers also told the Daily Mail that Melania Trump would not have been happy about the way her husband used Barron's graduation as a reason to complain about the judge in his criminal trial.