Barron Trump, 18, attends his father’s inauguration: A look at his life so far

President Trump youngest son Barron, 18, stepped into the spotlight at his father’s inauguration on Monday.

Standing at a towering 6’9″, many in attendance and onlookers noted how mature the young Trump has become since his father first took office in January 2017.

At the age of 10, Barron Trump was often the victim of cruel jokes and rumors from his father’s critics. His mother, Melania Trump, tried to shield him from unwanted scrutiny, though sometimes to no avail.

On Monday, the first son commanded the respect of the audience as he stood by his father’s side during the inauguration ceremony. Here’s a look at how Barron Trump has grown since 2017.

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2017 year

At age 10, Barron Trump became the first son to live in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1961.

Barron, who turned 11 in March 2017, lived in Trump Tower in New York while attending Columbia Grammar School and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side.

Beginning in 2016, rumors began to circulate that Barron Trump might be autistic, fueled by comedian Rosie O’Donnell. In 2024, Melania Trump said that her son, who was bullied at school, was deeply affected by the rumors.

“I was horrified by the cruelty,” Melania Trump wrote in her memoirs. “It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.’

“There is nothing shameful about autism (although O’Donnell’s tweet implied that it was), but Barron is not autistic,” she added. “Barron’s experience of being bullied both online and in real life after the incident is clear evidence of the irreparable damage that has been done.”

2018 year

Barron turned 12 in March 2018 and has continued to be a regular target for Trump’s enemies.

Actor Peter Fonda called on officials to “pluck Barron Trump from his mother’s arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles.” He later apologized for his remarks.

“I wrote something very inappropriate and vulgar about the president and his family in response to the devastating images I saw on television,” Fonda said in a statement shortly afterward. “Like many Americans, I am deeply troubled and saddened by the situation of children being separated from their families at the border, but I have gone too far.”

2019 year

Barron was 13 when his family moved permanently to Mar-a-Lago in 2019. That year, Trump said it would be “difficult” for him to let his son play football.

“I just don’t like the messages that I’m seeing around football — I mean, it’s a dangerous sport, and I think it’s really brutal,” Trump said at the time. “I thought the equipment would improve, and it did. Helmets have gotten a lot better, but that hasn’t solved the problem.”

During a 2019 House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan observed that then-President Trump could “name his son Barron, but he can’t make him a baron.”

Melania Trump was upset that her young son was mentioned at the hearing.

“A minor child deserves privacy and should not be involved in politics,” the first lady tweeted at the time. “Pamela Carlan, you should be ashamed of yourself for your very evil and clearly biased public pandering and use to this child.”

2020 year

As Trump fought for re-election in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic shook the United States, Barron Trump continued to attend school and stay out of the public eye. In 2020, Jeopardy host Ken Jennings apologized for the joke he talked about Barron in 2017.

“Barron saw a very long tie and a pile of expired deli in the dumpster,” Jennings wrote at the time. “He thought it was his father and his little heart was breaking.”

“Hey, I just wanted to admit that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some inappropriate (sic) and insensitive things,” Jennings wrote in 2020. “Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head, and I was horrified to see them read on the screen.”

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2021 year

Barron Trump was 14 when his father left office in January. He lived with his mother in Mar-a-Lago full-time and stayed out of the limelight.

In July 2021, he was seen leaving Trump Tower with Melania Trump.

2022 year

Barron Trump was 16 years old when FBI agents raided his father’s estate in Florida. He has kept a low profile this year, but was seen in public with both parents at the funeral of Ivana Trump, Trump’s first wife, in July 2022.

In November 2022, his father announced his application for the position of president.

2023 year

When President Trump’s campaign began again in 2023, Barron was still absent from the public spotlight. In August of the same year, a photo of his father was published.

2024 year

Barron Trump entered graduate school New York University (NYU) in the fall of 2024. He graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach in May and was spotted taking classes at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

In November, he also voted for the first time, throwing the ballot for his father in Florida.

2025 year

Barron looked sharp as he attended his father’s inauguration on January 20. Later in the day, he waved to the crowd after his father mentioned his role in the 2024 campaign.

“I have a very tall son called Barron. Has anyone heard of him?” Trump said to cheers as the first son waved to the crowd.

“He knew that young people vote. You know, we won the youth vote by 36 points … He said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to go out, do Joe Rogan, do all these guys,’” Trump recalled. “We did, we did. And Joe Rogan was great.”

The 18-year-old also wowed those in attendance when he shook hands with President Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris, with some social media users speculating that he may pursue a political career in the future.

“Barron Trump just shook hands with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” wrote one user X. “This kid is going to be our president one day. Bet on it.”

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“Barron Trump is a natural,” another said of Barron. “Totally owned the moment.”

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Courteau and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.