Barron Trump’s mother Melania has called him “very vocal” when giving advice to his father-slash-U.S. president. His tailor has said he’s “very fascinating to talk to.” One insider called him a “ladies man.” But some of his NYU classmates say the 6’7 freshman doesn’t have much of a presence in college life. The 18-year-old’s classmates told Vanity Fair they don’t know much about Barron despite him perhaps being the most famous student on campus, making his enigmatic status grow. Despite his reported influence on the his father’s presidential campaign, Barron doesn’t spend much time on campus or participating in school activities, some students said.
“He’s sort of like an oddity on campus,” Kaya Walker, the president of NYU College Republicans, told the magazine. “He goes to class, he goes home.” His interactions with other students appear to be limited due to his status in the First Family. For example, he traverses through NYU’s open campus in Lower Manhattan from Trump Tower via motorcade. He also has Secret Service officers hanging around him. One student told the magazine about when he asked Barron to play basketball. While the first son seemed interested, the student believed “he wasn’t really allowed to do stuff,” noting the plainclothes Secret Service officers nearby. He rarely speaks publicly, leaving an air of mystery around who Donald Trump’s youngest son really is. So, others have spoken for him. By all accounts, particularly those from the GOP, the 18-year-old seems to have quite a range. He is worldly, with prominent figures touting his wide breadth of knowledge. But he’s also “down-to-earth.” And he also apparently has a charming way with women. He spent 30 minutes chatting with billionaire Jeff Bezos, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Senate Majority Leader John Thune at Trump’s Inauguration Day Luncheon.
Eric Trump described him in October as “probably the most watched bachelor in the world.” He also noted that he essentially served as their father’s podcast adviser during the 2024 election cycle. Elon Musk disclosed on X that he and Barron had discussed “consciousness and video games” at Thanksgiving dinner at Mar-a-Lago; one student confirmed to Vanity Fair he “definitely is a gamer.” Social media influencer Justin Waller told Vanity Fair Barron is “the kind of guy that can start a business that can go public, but he also can sit down and drink a beer with the individual that’s running his manufacturing facility.”
Maria Arana, a 21-year-old NYU student and social media influencer, told Vanity Fair that while she hasn’t seen the youngest Trump around campus, she has noticed a shift in the campus’ historically liberal politics since his father was re-elected. “I’ve seen a lot of people just kind of keep it more to themselves,” she told the outlet. Walker recalled one of her professors even joking: “he doesn’t really belong here.”
