Donald Trump is currently on the campaign trail, aiming to become the Republican presidential candidate in the November election. The former president has continued to bash both the sitting president, President Joe Biden, and his Republican presidential opponent, Nikki Haley, while also laying out his plan for the United States moving forward. However, he has done it alone, as his wife, Melania Trump, has been absent.
The former first lady has lived a quiet life in the last few years, only appearing a few times in public, except for events at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. And while she has mourned the passing of her mother, Amalija, she is entirely focused on supporting and shielding her and Donald’s son, Barron Trump, from the media scrutiny.
Even though Donald Trump has stated that Melania will be more involved in his presidential campaign moving forward, her absence has people talking. Now, Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute and a professor of political science at Syracuse University, shares his theory on why Melania isn’t by her husband’s side. It concerns Barron – and Donald Trump’s ongoing legal battles.
Melania Trump’s tenure as First Lady of the United States was surely not something she could’ve imagined 20 years ago. Donald Trump spent four years at the White House before leaving after the 2020 Presidential election loss. However, Melania Trump didn’t live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue quite as long.
Melania Trump stayed in New York with Barron when Donald moved into the White House
When Donald Trump was elected president, Melania decided that she and Barron would stay in New York City for about six months so he could finish up his school year.
“It’s Melania who wants to stay. She doesn’t want to take Barron out of school,” an unnamed source told the New York Daily News. “She’s concerned that he won’t have the same relationship with new teachers that he has at Columbia Prep.”
When he finished school in “The Big Apple,” Barron and his mother headed for the White House. Barron became the first boy to live in the White House since JFK Jr.
Ever since Barron Trump’s birth, Melania has been in charge of raising him. Sure, Donald was there spending time with his youngest son, too. But in the end, Melania made the calls regarding Barron.
For example, in 2005, Donald said he was “not going to be doing the diapers,” adding, “I’m not going to be making the food, I may never even see the kids.”
When it comes to celebrities and those with millions and millions of dollars in the bank, it is common to read about wealthy people hiring nannies to help care for their young children. Sometimes, it might be because work makes it challenging to do both things simultaneously, but the reasons can vary.
In 2009, when Barron Trump was three years old, Forbes ranked Donald Trump as the 450th richest man in the world, having a net worth of $1.6 billion.
Why Donald and Melania Trump didn’t have a nanny to help raise Barron
Undoubtedly, they could have afforded getting a nanny to help Melania and her husband. Despite that, Donald explained in a 2015 interview with People that they preferred to be hands-on parents and not rely on help.
“We keep it down to a minimum. If you have too much help, you don’t get to know your children,” the former president said.
“I’ve always prided myself on being a good father,” Trump continued, adding that he had been strict with his four older children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany, that drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes would never be tolerated.
“Because if you’re going to start, you can’t get off!” he added.
After some months, Melania and Barron Trump finally moved into the White House. Four years later, after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, the Trump family left Washington and settled at their Palm Beach, Florida, estate, Mar-a-Lago.
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After finishing school in Washington, Barron Trump enrolled at the private school Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida. There have been very few reports about his progress at the school. However, the 17-year-old only has months left before graduating from high school.
As a Trump family member, he will undoubtedly begin studying at college afterward, and according to the New York Times, Melania and Donald have been looking at colleges in New York and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Donald and his children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Tiffany Trump, have all graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. However, Barron Trump’s father may not be the most popular of students graduating from Wharton.
Barron Trump’s undecided future
In 2016, the Associated Press reported that school officials don’t like talking about the former president, so much so that a former pro-Trump student group previously had to be shut down.
While the bookstore at the University of Pennsylvania has a significant number of books written by their alums, there is only one copy of Trump’s 1987 book The Art of the Deal.
“Perhaps the most important thing I learned at Wharton was not to be overly impressed by academic credentials… That degree doesn’t prove very much,” he wrote in The Art of the Deal.
Which school he will attend has yet to be decided. However, Barron Trump appears to have already been handed a more significant public role within his family. That is according to Melania’s former senior aide, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff.
Behind the walls of the private school Oxbridge Academy and his home at Mar-a-Lago, Barron Trump has been protected from both the public and the media. But as he will attend college, things will be pretty different.
Not only because it is more public but also because he will be 18 and can make his own decisions entirely differently.
Expert claims Barron will prefer a quiet life outside the spotlight
Meanwhile, a PR expert has now spoken out about Barron’s potential future plans of being in the spotlight just like the rest of the Trump family. But the son of the former president might not have one.
Speaking to The List, Eden Gillott, crisis management expert, claims that Barron would prefer a quieter life like his mother’s rather than Donald’s love for being in the spotlight.
“Barron will most likely opt for Melania’s elegance of privacy rather than his father’s love of the spotlight. This selective visibility could define his persona, underscoring the sophistication of leading a life of quiet dignity amidst a world that often confuses noise with influence,” she said.
Every time Barron has been seen in public, it has created many articles in the media, not least because of his length, which has turned out to be quite spectacular.
The attention he himself has not chosen could actually be turned to his advantage, Gilliott says.
“Barron has a unique opportunity to capitalize on this increased visibility to subtly shape his own narrative. While his father’s potential presidency could heighten public interest, Barron could use this moment not for direct engagement, but as a chance to reinforce his personal brand of quiet distinction,” she claimed.
“By focusing on his education and personal interests he can navigate the heightened attention in a way that aligns with his preference for privacy, setting a precedent for engaging with the public on his own terms.”
Donald Trump reveals reason why Melania Trump isn’t on the campaign trail with him
Further, the PR expert concludes that while Barron Trump could become like his father, he can still create his own path in life. Not least because his quiet personality has become his “signature trait.”
“Barron’s choice of a quieter path could mark him as the bearer of a new legacy where he redefines what it looks like to carry the name,” Eden Gilliott told The List. “If, at a later point, he decides he wants to fully step into public life, it’ll be much easier to navigate than trying to close Pandora’s box.”
Ever since his birth – with Barron first being the son of a real estate mogul, moving on to being the son of the president and later the son of a former president – Melania Trump has focused on shielding her son from all the media scrutiny. Not only from possible criticism of her father but also to stop the media from ever coming close to him.
Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign is at full speed, and the former president aims to become the Republican nominee for the November election. Meanwhile, Melania Trump has not been seen at her husband’s side. During a town hall meeting in South Carolina in mid-February, Donald Trump decided to spill the truth about why.
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Right now, Melania is dedicated to being at Barron’s side.
“They love her, I’ll tell you,” Trump said. “And you know her. She’s a very brilliant person. She speaks many languages, the whole thing.”
“Her life revolves around that boy, [he’s] so important to her. At the same time, it also revolves around our country and the success of our country. She’s raised a lot of money for charity.”
“She’s gonna be out quite a bit”
He continued, “She’s a private person. It’s funny; she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot, not because she likes doing it, but she likes the result. She wants to see this country really succeed.”
“[The people] love the fact that she’s not out there so much. You know, a lot of first ladies will go out. They want to be everywhere. They get angry at their husband because he’s not introducing them. If I didn’t introduce Melania she’d be very happy about it. She’s just a different kind of a person. And she loves the country.”
Donald Trump concluded, “She’s gonna be out quite a bit, and she loves his country, and she wants a great, and she says hello.”
Throughout their time in the White House, Melania made it very clear that she was keen on protecting her son from scrutiny, especially since being the president’s son can be a demanding role. That has continued today, with the Trump family living at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
While Donald Trump has revealed that Melania Trump’s priority lies with their 17-year-old son, Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute and a professor of political science at Syracuse University, now shares his thoughts on Melania’s absence and why that is.
Speaking to the Mirror, Reeher claims that it is not only because Melania wants to be supporting her son as he closes in on the finish line in his final year in high school.
Melania Trump dedicated to shielding Barron from Donald Trump’s scandals, expert says
The professor states that Donald Trump’s major legal battles could play a big part, too.
“The family was very involved in the past two campaigns for president, so I’d think they would be involved again. From a distance, it seems that Melania became less enthusiastic about this role as the controversies and the scandals mounted, so I don’t know how involved she’ll want to be this time around.”
“And she may be keen to guard Barron from becoming too exposed. Once you draw on your family, they become fair game for the media and opposition research.”
Grant Reeher added: “His other adult children and in-laws were very keen to be involved in both his campaigns and his White House administration, and I see no reason why they wouldn’t want to do that again.”
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