Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald Trump, now lives at the White House with his parents.
But Barron’s life at the White House is quite different from the lives that other
first children had at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Take a look at Barron Trump’s life at the
White House.
In addition to not moving to the White House
right away, Barron Trump found himself in the unusual position of expressing doubts
about a move to the White House — and then seeing his dad talk about those doubts. Donald
Trump responded to the question about whether Barron was excited about living in the White
House by saying, “not so much that.” The president added, “He does love New York
and he loves his school. Not so much living in the White House.” You can’t really
blame Barron for having those doubts. But fortunately, Melania Trump later said Barron
was “all settled” at the White House and “loves it here.”
In one of the biggest departures from the traditions set by former presidents and their
families, Melania and Barron Trump didn’t move into the White House as soon as Donald
Trump assumed office. Instead, they stayed in New York for Barron to finish out the school
year at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School. In fact, Barron and Melania didn’t move
to Washington until five months into Donald Trump’s presidency. They officially made
the move on June 14, 2017. The Trump family came under fire over the security costs associated
with Melania and Barron staying in Manhattan, especially because much of that money came
from taxpayers.
Most presidents send their school-aged children
to private schools in Washington. Donald and Melania Trump followed suit with Barron. But
they broke a more recent tradition by skipping the school that several modern first families
have picked. Barron goes to St. Andrews School in Potomac, Maryland.
But several other first kids have gone to the Sidwell Friends School, including Chelsea
Clinton and Malia and Sasha Obama. And farther back in history, Tricia and Julie Nixon also
attended Sidwell. Plus, former Vice President Al Gore’s son Albert Gore III went there,
as did three of former Vice President Joe Biden’s granddaughters.
Because Donald Trump spends a lot of time at his properties, Barron Trump likely spends
more time away from the White House than other first children did. In fact, Donald Trump
spent about a third of his first year in office at his properties away from the White House.
He also took 97 vacation days, more than the 26 days Barack Obama had taken in the same
period of his presidency. So it seems safe to say that even if he travels with his dad
only occasionally, Barron Trump lives a more jet-setting lifestyle than other presidential
kids. Of course, many first families have taken
vacations. Plenty of former presidents’ kids did some occasional travel. In addition
to flying on Air Force One, a few presidents’ children have even gone with their dads on
international trips. For instance, while in the White House, Sasha and Malia Obama went
with their parents on trips to China and Cuba.
Barron differs from other children who have
lived in the White House. Barron, who reportedly has his own floor in the family penthouse
at Trump Tower, may be the first presidential kid to find the White House a downgrade.
However, the White House does have a basketball court, movie theater, swimming pool, bowling
alley, billiards room, and jogging track. The White House also employs a full kitchen
staff, so Barron can likely get just about anything he wants to eat. Thus, hopefully
Barron has found plenty to like about his new home.
Another factor that would have been a big adjustment for other first children but probably
didn’t faze Barron Trump? The Secret Service detail that protects him constantly. Children
living at the White House typically “don’t have much privacy or freedom or movement beyond
their private living quarters.” But given the heavy security that Barron and
Melania got used to while living in New York, that likely didn’t require a big adjustment
for Barron upon his arrival in Washington. Nonetheless, his mom did seem to consider
it an adjustment. Melania said to a friend that she was used to “drivers and security,
but now you have the Secret Service outside your door.”
Most first children aren’t used to the spotlight when they move to the White House. But Barron
Trump had already had experience with it before Donald Trump even began to campaign for president.
Growing up the son of celebrities in a gilded penthouse at Trump Tower and knowing how to
look politely at the occasional camera may have prepared Barron better than most first
kids for that famous-but-fiercely-shielded existence.
Nonetheless, Barron’s parents have kept some things out of the spotlight. We know
that Melania Trump redecorated the private quarters at the White House. But the Trumps
have kept the details private, which contrasts with a few other first families’ decisions
to be very open about what their residence looked like.
While many first children have had pets at
the White House, Barron Trump doesn’t. The Trumps broke with “presidential pet tradition”
by not adding an animal to the household. That tradition, dates back to Thomas Jefferson,
who kept a mockingbird and a couple of bear cubs during his presidency. Throughout the
years, presidential pets became celebrities of sorts.
Malia and Sasha had two dogs, Bo and Sunny. The Bush family had five pets, including a
Scottish terrier named Miss Beazley. And the tradition of first families having pets goes
far back in American history. In 1861, 7-year-old Tad Lincoln brought his ponies to the White
House. And he also kept pet goats, Nanny and Nanko, who slept in his bed with him.
Plenty of first sons have lived at the White House — but not recently. Barron Trump is
the first presidential son to live at the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. And
because JFK Jr. was born just a couple of months before the Kennedys moved to the White
House in 1961, Barron is the first preteen boy to live at the White House since Charles
Taft II. (Taft was 11 years old when his father, William Howard Taft, was elected president
in 1908.) Yet Barron does have a surprising characteristic
in common with other presidential sons. All of the sons who were young enough to live
in the White House over the past century, such as John Aspinwall Roosevelt, were the
youngest of their siblings. Barron Trump, too, is Donald Trump’s youngest child.